Princess
by Kishiro Kitsune
Summary: AU Riku, Sora, and Selphie have been searching for the missing princess of Radiant Garden for 3 years. In Twilight Town, they stumble across Kairi and believe that she is the princess. Together they set off to return her home. RikuSora, PenceKairi, & othe
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

Summary: Riku, Sora, and Selphie have been searching for the missing princess of Radiant Gardens for 3 years. In Twilight Town, they stumble across Kairi, who bears a striking resemblance to the baby in the photo they have. Together, they venture to Radiant Gardens to return Kairi to her home.

Pairings: RikuSora, PenceKairi; (some) RoxasAxel, LeonCloud, ZexionDemyx

* * *

**Princess**

Chapter 1: Arrival

A fire blazed in the middle of a large room. The flickering flames cast a reddish glow over everything, emphasizing the shadows and making the room appear bigger. Three people sat around the fire eating their dinner of baked beans and hot dogs.

One was a young woman with brown hair that curled above her shoulders. Bangs hung over her vivid green eyes as she looked over into the flames of the fire. She had her legs drawn up to her chest with one arm wrapped loosely around them. The other rested on the ground near her paper plate and plastic fork.

A few feet away was a boy with untamable spiky brown hair that helped enhance his childlike personality. He was sitting hunched over his plate and hurriedly shoving food into his mouth while one foot bouncing erratically.

The last member of the group was a young man with long silver hair. He ate slowly and stared broodingly into the fire with his aquamarine eyes. He sat still, aside from the simple movements from eating.

Silence permeated the air, making the room stifling and uncomfortable. Finally, the girl couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Sora, Riku," She addressed her companions looking to the brunet and then to the white haired boy as she said their names. "Do you think we'll find her here?"

Sora swallowed his food before answering. "It's worth a shot, right? Just because we haven't had any luck so far doesn't mean we should give up." He frowned. "Your not starting to have doubts, are you, Selphie? I mean," He quickly backtracked, unsure if he offended her. "Not that that's a bad thing! I have doubts sometimes too."

Selphie looked a little surprised that Sora actually came out and said that. Usually he tried to keep an upbeat attitude so everyone else would remain positive. "Really?" She asked.

"Well, yeah." Sora said uncomfortably.

"There's not time for doubts now." Riku said crossly. "We're already here, so we're staying to look around before we move on."

"Okay, grumpy. We never said we weren't going to look." Sora said, forcing a little cheer into his voice. "You're just mad because we made you cook tonight."

Riku glared at Sora and then got up and walked away. "I'm going to bed." He said curtly.

Once Riku slammed the door to his room, Sora's face fell and he set his fork on his plate and stopped eating, no longer hungry.

Selphie sighed. The two of them had been fussing and fighting with each other ever since the last girl they thought was the missing princess had turned out to be a fake. She wasn't even sure why the two were fighting.

"Maybe we shouldn't have made him cook." Sora murmured.

"You know that making him cook isn't what's making him grumpy." Selphie told him. When Sora looked even sadder, she decided to change the subject. "We'll have to go into town and get some supplies tomorrow. That should give us the chance to look around. Who knows, maybe we'll find the princess!"

"Maybe." Sora said, not sounding very enthusiastic.

Selphie tried not to growl in frustration and instead kept a happy smile on her face. "This could be our big break! Imagine, if we find her here then we'll be able to use the reward to find our families!"

Sora took a deep breath and gave Selphie a smile, but they both knew it was a fake one and that he was still upset. "That'd be great. You'll probably be the first to find your family. You're the only one of us who has something linking you to family."

Selphie reached up to run her fingers over the cool metal of the spiraling silver and sapphire band on her upper right arm. "Yeah… I don't know how much it'll help though, since it's a common servant's band. There's bound to be plenty of people who have them and anyway, I don't even know if my family still works for the royal family or if they're still alive."

"It's still something, Sel." Sora argued. "And Riku won't have a hard time finding his family either. How many people do you ever see walking around with white hair and green eyes?" He didn't give her a chance to answer the question. "Not many, especially when you compare that to how many people have brown hair and blue eyes. There are a lot. Trust me, I've looked. And my parents could have blond hair or red hair or anything like that! And--"

"Sora." Selphie finally interrupted before he could work himself up into an even more frenzied state. "Relax. We will find your family, I promise. Even if Riku and I find ours first, we won't leave you behind. We won't abandon you. We'll stay by your side no matter how long it takes, okay?"

For a moment, Sora didn't say anything. Then he softly whispered, "Okay," and got to his feet. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Selphie sadly watched him walk up the creaking old stairs and disappear into the room on the left side of the hall that they referred to as "The White Room". She remained beside the fire for a while longer to think and then she got up, doused the fire with a wet blanket, and went to bed.

* * *

The next day Selphie found herself walking through town buying groceries while Sora and Riku lagged behind and said nothing to each other while maintaining at least two feet of space between them at all times. Selphie found that she hated the silence more than she hated them arguing.

'_They could at least be useful and carry some bags.'_ Selphie huffed. '_Lazy bums._' Her eyes fell to the ground. _'No… I shouldn't think that. Not when they're upset like this.'_

"Sel, you want some help?"

Selphie jerked her head up to look at Sora, who had caught up to her while she was thinking. "Sure. I was wondering when you would offer to help." She teased. She handed him a few bags, which he willingly took, and was happy to see something of a smile spread across Sora's face. She didn't dare say anything about Riku right then, knowing that it would just make Sora get all depressed again.

"So, we have food, we have drinks, and my change purse still has four-thousand munny in it." Selphie said, wishing she had a free arm so she and Sora could link arms like usual. "What do you say to finding ourselves a nice treat?"

Sora looked at Selphie with a hopeful expression on his face. "Like ice cream?" He asked.

"I don't see why not." Selphie said. "Go find a stand and we'll go get some. I've heard that Twilight Town is famous for it's sea-salt ice cream. We should try some."

Sora was even more excited by the prospect of getting to try a brand new kind of ice cream. Selphie giggled when he started to bounce like he always did when he got excited about something.

"There's one!" He shouted, before he ran in the direction of the nearest ice cream stand.

"Sora! Slow down and watch where you're going!" Selphie yelled after him. Her warning was too late though, as Sora crashed right into a pretty auburn-haired girl and both of them fell to the ground. When Sora realized what had happened, he jumped to his feet and helped her up, apologizing the entire time.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Sora said, his blue eyes worried. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, I'm okay." The redhead said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She gave him a smile when he continued to look at her in worry. "Really, I'm okay. What about you?"

Sora nodded and quickly checked his groceries bags as Selphie caught up to him. The cans of food were alright, but judging by the look on Selphie's face Sora felt that the food should be the least of his worries.

"You- you- urg!" The brunette smacked Sora on the arm, her green eyes narrowed into a glare. "How many times do we have to tell you to watch where you're going? This is exactly why we always tell you that!"

"It's okay." Kairi said earnestly, stopping Selphie before she could further berate Sora. "I've got a friend who always rushes off without thinking and he causes so much trouble. And I'm not hurt, so there's no harm done."

Selphie relaxed, relieved that Sora hadn't accidentally pissed off one of the townsfolk. "No harm done then." She repeated cheerfully. "I'm Selphie, by the way. And he's Sora." She jabbed her thumb at the brunet, who was looking at her wearily. He knew she wasn't happy about him running into someone and that she would find some way to punish him.

'_She'll either deny me ice cream or make me cook tonight and I really, _really _hope it's the second. Please let it be the second one.' _Sora hoped.

"I'm Kairi." The redhead said. "It's nice to meet you two."

Despite the situation bringing them together, Selphie couldn't help but smile. "It's nice to meet you, Kairi. You're probably the first friendly face we've come across in a long time. Just about everyone else around here looks at us and goes, 'urg, outsiders' or something."

Kairi giggled. "Yeah, some people around here are like that. We've had some problems with outsiders coming in and causing trouble, so people are really wary whenever someone new comes to town."

"That's understandable." Selphie said. She had been wondering why she, Sora, and Riku had been getting dark looks from some of the townsfolk. A few mothers had even rushed their children away from them as they walked past.

'_This is my chance to talk to someone who's been around here for a long time.' _Selphie realized. '_I can't let this chance pass buy.' _She looked over at Sora, almost regretting what she was about to do. "Sora, why don't you go buy four ice creams while I talk to Kairi. I'll even give you my change purse as long as you promise that you'll _only _get four ice creams."

Sora's face lit up and he nodded eagerly. "Okay! I'll be super careful, Sel! I promise! And if something happens then I'll- I'll--"

"Cook dinner for a month." Selphie supplied.

"But--"

Selphie held up a hand, effectively shutting him up. "Complain and it'll be breakfast too." She threatened.

That really shut Sora up. He quickly took the munny pouch from Selphie and then skipped off to get the ice cream. Riku walked up just as Sora began to skip away and raised his eyebrows at him.

"What'd you promise him this time?" He asked, annoyance laced in his voice.

"Chill, grumpy. He's just going to get us some ice cream." Selphie said dismissively. "But the way, this is Kairi. Kairi, this is Riku. Don't mind him too much. He's got, like, male PMS or something."

Riku scowled. "Selphie!"

Selphie just gave him a smile and then began to talk to Kairi, ignoring Riku as he tried to tell her off for saying he had male PMS.

"Sel--!"

"Ice cream time!" Sora yelled, cheerfully sticking one of the blue bars in Riku's mouth, effectively shutting him up. He didn't so much as look at Riku while he gave Kairi and Selphie an ice cream and then began to eat his own.

"You didn't have to get me one." Kairi said.

"Don't be silly. It's the least we could do after Sora nearly plowed you over." Selphie said, knowing that Sora wouldn't be doing any talking until after he was finished with his ice cream.

"Sora knocked her over?" Riku asked.

Selphie gave him a look that could clearly be interpreted as, 'shut-up-now-and-play-nice-before-I-do-something-horrible-to-you'. Riku got the message and looked around Tram Common while he ate his ice cream. He avoided looking at Sora the best he could, and the smaller brunet did the same. Meanwhile, Selphie drew Kairi aside to talk some more and ask questions about the town and why people were so against outsiders.

"We've had problems with people coming around looking for the missing Radian Gardens princess." Kairi's explanation made Selphie wince slightly. "The last two that were here caused such a stir and hurt so many people." She looked away and sighed, taking a tentative lick of ice cream. "It's hard to believe that someone would come in and knowingly try to tear a family apart."

Selphie hid her nervousness. In a way, she, Sora, and Riku were doing the same thing only without the malicious intent. But if Kairi were to find out that they two were searching for the princess, Selphie dreaded to think what the redhead would do.

Kairi noticed her sudden silence and frowned. "Why are you three in Twilight Town anyway?"

"We're… looking for someone." Selphie said hesitantly, her mind racing for some way to not lie to Kairi but at the same time not tell her exactly who they were looking for.

"Oh?" Kairi's voice took on a cold edge and her eyes darkened from their usual blue-violet.

"An old friend of mine." Selphie quickly added. "We were separated when we were younger. And all three of us lost our families when we were young, so we've been searching for a way to find them. It's how we met. We were all in the same orphanage back in Traverse Town."

It wasn't completely a lie. Being the daughter of servants meant that Selphie could have easily known the princess and other members of the royal family. And the three of them _were _searching for their families.

"Oh." Kairi relaxed and the cold edge to her voice warmed. "I know how that feels, not knowing family. My friend Olette and her parents are the closet thing I have to family."

Selphie had to resist breathing a sigh of relief as she let a smile slip onto her face. "At least you have a sister. I'm stuck with two brothers who argue about seventy percent of the time." She rolled her eyes at the boys. "I'm just glad that this is the worst it gets and it's only happened once before. I'd have killed them by now if they were always like this."

Kairi wasn't sure if she should laugh or be worried, so she settled for smiling unsurely. Then she changed the subject. "So, do you remember what your friend looks like? I mean, you must have some kind of clue."

"My memory is a little fuzzy." Selphie admitted as she dug through the pockets of her old blue jeans to pull out an old, yellowed photo. "But this photo helps a little. It's of her when she was a baby and it got burnt in the fire, but I clearly remember that her hair was brown or reddish and her eyes were a bluish shade." She handed the photo to Kairi so she could get a better look and was completely unprepared for the started gasp that fell from Kairi's lips.

"T-that's--" Trembling, Kairi gripped Selphie's arm and tugged her down the street back past Sora and Riku. "Follow me." She told them, trying to keep her voice steady. "There's something I should show you."

Mystified, they followed her as she led them across town and through back alley's until they came to a fenced in area with posters and all sorts of furniture laying about. Kairi released Selphie's arm and walked through the door, leaving the three newcomers to follow on their own.

Three other teens in the alley leapt to their feet when they walked in, but Kairi ignored them for the moment. One was a brunette girl who watched Kairi with worried green eyes. She and the heavyset brunet boy beside her had been sitting on the couch when they walked in. The other member of the trio was a frowning blond boy, who didn't look at all happy about being ignored.

"What's going on? Who're they?" The blond demanded, glaring at the three newcomers.

"Quiet, Hayner." Kairi snapped, rifling through a drawer. "Have any of you seen my necklace? It's import-- Ah! Never mind." She lifted a delicate gold chain and locket from the drawer and then walked back over to Selphie. "Look at this." She said, opening the locket and laying it in Selphie's hand. "I've had it for as long as I can remember. It's the only thing I have of family."

Selphie curiously looked at the picture and then her eyes widened in shock when she saw it was identical to the picture she always carried with her. "W-what? But how?"

"What's wrong, Sel?" Sora asked worriedly.

Wordlessly, Selphie handed the chain and locket to Sora and looked at Kairi in wonder as if seeing her for the first time.

"Whoa, Kairi's picture looks just like the one that Selphie has!" Sora said, not seeing the connection that Selphie and Kairi had already made. "That's so weird!"

"Sora, Kairi is the girl in the picture." Riku snapped. He didn't even need to see the pictures to make the connection. For once, Sora's inability to piece things together quickly was annoying him more than making him want to smile.

Sora's jaw dropped. "Kairi's the princess?!"

Selphie flinched when four pairs of eyes glared in their direction. Mentally cursing Sora for his inability to keep his mouth shut, she hastily tried to explain, but Hayner stepped forward and protectively pushed Kairi behind him while the other two teens, Olette and Pence, moved closer to Kairi.

"Get out." Hayner said waspishly. "Our town has had enough trouble with people like you. Leave now and don't try to drag Kairi into it."

"But her necklace--" Sora began, holding out the object.

"I don't want it." Kairi's voice wavered slightly. "Take it with you."

Sora opened his mouth to protest, but Selphie stopped him from doing so by laying a hand on his shoulder. "Lets go guys. We can't force them to listen." She briefly glanced back at Kairi. "If she wants to talk to us, or if she wants her necklace back, then she can find us when we're in town or she can come out to the abandoned mansion."

"We're just going to leave right after we've finally found her?" Riku crossly asked as Selphie walked out of the back alley. He wasn't in the mood to go anywhere until Kairi and her friends listened to reason.

"What other choice do we have?" Selphie asked sadly. "Forcing them to listen would hurt more than help right now. We're leaving, Riku."

With heavy hearts, the three made their way back into town and through the hole in the wall that led to the woods. None of them spoke the entire way and a mixture of frustration, anger, and sadness consumed them.

Riku was frustrated with their situation, especially knowing that there was nothing they could do. He was also angry with Sora, for what happened before their arrival in Twilight Town, and for blowing things when he spoke without thinking of the consequences. The three of them knew that many people weren't very supportive of those who are searching for the princess and they had encountered the hostility in more than one small town. Twilight Town was like a postcard picture of a small town.

Selphie, on the other hand, was disappointed with the way things turned out. But at the same time she felt relief at finally having found the princess. Riku may have wanted to rush in and take Kairi away, but Selphie knew it would be best to take things slow and make sure that Kairi really was the princess. After all, it could be an elaborate decoy set up by whoever hid the princess away to begin with.

Sora was taking things the hardest_. 'It's all my fault. If I hadn't yelled out that Kairi is the princess then we would still be there talking to her.'_ One of the bags began to drag along the ground and he lifted his arm up a little so the bottom wouldn't rip out. '_I always screw things up like this. Why can't I just keep my mouth shut? I hate this!' _He raised his eyes from the ground to peer through his bangs at Riku. He quickly looked back down before the older boy could catch him looking. _'I hate being mad at Riku even more. Especially over something so stupid. And now he's probably even more angry with me!' _His throat began to close up as tears pricked behind his eyes and for a moment he found it hard to breath. Then he forced himself to breath steadily in and out, something he was almost certain that he learned from one of his family members, since he had always done it when he got stressed out.

A quick glance at Selphie and Riku told him that neither of them had noticed his minor attack. Raising his eyes a little more, he was able to spot the mansion looming up ahead. _'Home sweet home.' _He thought sadly.

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

This is going to be fun to write. I get to work with a more mature, motherly Selphie who knows how to keep "her boys" in line; a brooding, moody Riku who's angry at everyone around him; a Sora teetering on the edge of becoming a mini-Cloud (joking - clears throat) --a Sora who tends to take on the weight of the world while balancing his feelings for Riku (but how's that any different than usual?); a Kairi who feels like her whole world is getting turned upside down; and all of them have next to no memory of their families.

Fun.

Anyway, this little fic was inspired by the movie Anastasia, and the very base of the plot is the same: There's a princess who's been missing for years and a bunch of people trying to find her. And that's about where the similarities end. Other than Selphie being a servants daughter, which is much more Demetri-like than I wanted, but that's really where the similarities end! I think. I _hope_.


	2. Chapter 2: Jobs that Suck

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.

* * *

**Princess**

_Chapter 2: Jobs That Suck_

Two mornings later when Selphie informed her boys that they would all have to find jobs while in Twilight Town, neither of them were very happy. Sora even went as far as to tell her that he'd rather make breakfast for a month, but the only thing that happened then was Selphie happily giving him the task of making breakfast for two weeks _and _finding a job.

"We may not be paying rent, but we still need money for food and drinks. And it wouldn't hurt to get some new clothes. Most of ours have rips and tears in them that I can't fix." Selphie told them. "Not to mention it'll cost a lot more than what we have right now to go all the way to Radiant Gardens."

That was how Sora found himself working what was possibly the most boring job in all of Twilight Town: working at a tiny, old fashioned ice cream shop on Tram Common, right across from the newer ice cream shop that sold the ever popular sea-salt ice cream.

'_I can't even eat any or they'll take the munny from my pay.' _He thought dejectedly. '_Not that I'd want any. This place has icky looking ice cream.' _He wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to eat it. _'But it pays fifty munny an hour and that's about as good as it gets in towns like this. I bet Riku's having a hard time running stupid errands all day.'_

Sora looked around moodily and, when he didn't see anyone coming anywhere near the ice cream stand, picked up an ink pen and began tapping it against the wood frame.

'_Stupid Riku.'_ He thought. _'Him and his girly silver hair. And his muscles. And his cocky… Riku-ness.'_ He didn't even notice when he began to stab the ink pen into the wood, a cloud of anger broiling his head.

"Hey mister!" A childish voice demanded his attention.

Sora blinked in surprise and pulled the pen out of the wood with a jerk, surprised that it hadn't snapped in half and spouted ink everywhere. Then he leaned over the counter and looked down to see a cute little girl who had her brown hair tied into pigtails. Baby blue eyes stared up at him.

"Hello," Sora said, wondering what the little girl wanted. Then he remembered where he was and what he was suppose to be doing and cleared his throat. "Er- welcome to Joe's Ice Cream Corner. What can I get for you?" Inwardly he rolled his eyes at the lame name, but outwardly he smiled pleasantly and kept his focus on the little girl.

"Gimme my ice cream!" The little girl demanded. "I gave you the munny, so give me!"

Annoyed but not about to let it show, Sora looked down at the counter expecting to see the ever-so-familiar golden, square coins. Instead he saw two buttons, a stick, and a metal blob. "I'm sorry, I don't see any munny on the counter." He told her, not feeling sorry at all. He could already feel the beginning of an impending headache.

"Yes you do!" The little girl protested. "It's right there! You just looked at it! See!" She pointed to the buttons, stick, and metal blob.

Sora resisted the impulse to throw something across the room. Preferably something heavy that would cause a lot of damage. He scowled down at the little girl, all cheer and friendliness forgotten. "Look," He growled. "I don't accept buttons, a stick, and a piece of metal as proper munny, so take it and leave. I'm sure every other sane ice cream shop will tell you the same thing." He pushed himself away from the counter with a huff, needing to get away from the annoying little girl before he'd lose his temper.

In the back he couldn't help but throw a little temper tantrum, the stress of the days finally getting to him. Normally he'd be more careful since Selphie would lecture him about keeping his cool when she'd catch him at it. Never mind that he didn't do it that often and it was his way of letting off steam when he and Riku were fighting.

He threw everything he could find that wouldn't get him in trouble or cause too much damage and he stomped and cursed and slammed the freezer doors repeatedly until his anger ebbed away and he began to feel foolish for acting in such a manner.

He walked back out front and took a seat behind the counter again, mindlessly picking up the ink pen to take it against the counter. This time he made sure to not stab it into the wood.

No one bothered him for a while and he took the time to watch the everyday routines of the townsfolk. After an hour more of mind-boggling boredom, someone approached the ice cream shop. Sora recognized that someone. He was Kairi's brunet friend.

'_Aw, crap. This is the last thing I need.'_ Sora thought. _'Please let it just be him walking in the wrong direction. I don't need to hear about how I should stay away from the princess. Selphie's already told us not to bother her.' _

Unfortunately for Sora, the brunet boy walked right up to the ice cream shop and stopped in front of him.

"You're one of those kids who thinks Kairi is the princess." Pence said without preamble. "Why? Just because of that photo?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. We know it's just a photo and at first we thought it was of Selphie when she was a baby, but then we found something written on the back." He set the pen down and regarded Pence seriously. "Are you sure you want to hear this? I don't want to cause any trouble around here."

"I want to know why you think Kairi is her." Pence said.

Sora sighed. "Alright. I just hope Selphie doesn't murder me over this." His hand strayed toward the pen, but he pulled it back to rest it on the counter. "Selphie's had that picture for as long as I can remember. She had it before Riku and I ever arrive at Traverse Orphanage. It wasn't until we were about eleven that we noticed there was something written on the back of it. It was hard to read and parts of it were missing because it's burnt." He plucked a napkin from the holder and picked up the pen before carefully writing three lines of words and numbers exactly as they were on the back of the photo. When he was done, he handed it to Pence.

The napkin read:

_--OF-BIRTH: APRIL 21, YEAR 320_

_-PICTURE D-ATE: AUGUST 20, YEAR 320_

_PRIN-- OF RAD--NT G-RD-N_

Pence frowned. "That's not much to go by."

"It's enough." Sora said. "Because it lets us know that she's our age and that she was born in the spring. And thanks to the photo we know her hair is a shade similar to brown and her eyes are a bluish color. And Kairi has the same exact photo. If she's not the princess then it only means we're getting close to finding her." He looked at Pence, his jaw set and his royal blue eyes determined. "We know there are flaws. That's why Selphie tells us to take things slowly. She says things will work out if given enough time. Riku and I think differently though."

"But you still listen to her." Pence pointed out.

"Of course we do!" Sora said, sounding insulted. "She's our sister. She's the only mother-like figure we've ever known. And she's deadly when she gets a hold of a jump rope."

By then Pence looked more curious than confrontational. "So why are you guys trying to find her? Is it for the reward munny?"

"Well, yeah. But there's more to it than that." Sora said. "I won't say we're doing it out of the good of our hearts and that no one deserves to be separated from family, because that's only half true. We're doing it so we can find _**our **_families. And if we can help her find hers in the process, then that's great."

Pence looked a little surprised by the seriousness in Sora's voice. "That was either really well rehearsed or the truth." He said, not sure which one it was.

"I'm used to having to explain why we're looking for her." Sora said, shrugging. "And me, Selphie, and Riku talk about it whenever one of us starts to have doubts." He looked at Pence curiously, wondering why he came over to talk to him. He voiced his question, which took Pence back momentarily.

"Curiosity." He said. "Kairi's one of my best friends. She grew up here with us. You can't expect us to just let her go forever."

Sora looked alarmed. "Well- uh-"

"Never thought of that?"

Sora looked sheepish. "I have, it's just that Selphie always answers that 'cause Riku gets all mad and I always start rambling. We don't expect you to just let her go. That'd be dumb. I mean, I wouldn't like anyone telling me I'd have to leave Riku and Selphie behind in order to find my family and I can't imagine that anyone else would so--"

"You're rambling." Pence pointed out.

Sora blushed. "Oh. Oops. But you get what I'm saying, right? If she didn't want to leave, then we wouldn't make her. But if she did, then anyone she chooses could come with us if they wanted to." His head cocked sideways and he scratched the back of his neck. "We'll just be stuck around here for a bit longer. We don't have the munny to get to Radiant Garden yet."

"How much munny does it cost?" Pence asked. "It's just two towns over, right?"

"Seven-thousand munny a person." Sora said with a sigh. "We only have about three-thousand right now, since Selphie let me get ice cream yesterday. I feel kind of bad about that now."

"Pence!"

The boy in question jumped, an almost guilty and fearful expression crossing his face. "Gotta go." He muttered to Sora before he rushed off after Olette, who was waiting for him over near the candy shop.

Sora sighed and stabbed the pencil into the wood again before he turned around and walked to the back.

* * *

Selphie was having a much better time than Sora and she was getting more pay.

'_I lucked out this time.' _She thought happily. _'I feel bad for Sora though.' _She had walked past the ice cream shop earlier and had seen Sora moodily stabbing the counter with an ink pen.

"Selphie, go clean out the dachshund's cage and then feed the snakes." One of her co-workers said as she walked by carrying a bird cage. "Make sure the albino sees you put the mouse in."

"Okay." Selphie said, looking wearily at the snake cages. 'Okay, there's a few downsides. Like the snakes.' She held back a shudder and deposited the bird cage in the right place before she made her way to the back of the pet shop where they kept the dogs and cats up for adoption from the local animal shelter. She quickly cleaned up the cage and then fetched a cage of mice and carried it over to where the three snakes were kept. She opened the lid of the first snake's glass case and then pulled a mouse out of the cage by the base of it's tail and dropped it in before shutting the lid. She did the same for the next snake, but for the albino she gently tapped the glass to get it's attention and then dropped the mouse right in front of it. She quickly closed the lid and took the mice back to their area.

"Not a snake person, are you?" Another co-working remarks, sounding amused. "Don't worry about them too much. We don't have to feed them often." He held out his tanned hand for her to shake. "I'm Tidus."

Selphie smiled and shook his hand. "Selphie."

"So, uh," Tidus scratched the back of his neck uncertainly. "You new around here? I've never seen you around before now."

Selphie nodded. "Yeah. Me and my, er…" She paused a moment to think of a suitable title. "Me and my brothers are here for a while, but then we'll be heading off to Radiant Garden."

"Oh." Tidus looked almost disappointed to hear that she would be leaving. "How long are you staying?"

Selphie shrugged. "No idea. It depends on how fast we get the money to leave. With all three of us working I don't think it'll be too hard, but I haven't added in the expense of clothes and food yet so…" She trailed off, uncertainty evident in her eyes. She had forgotten to include food and clothes when she was adding up how much it would cost to get out to Radiant Garden.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Tidus said confidently. "And you'll love it in Radiant Garden. I was born there. Moved when I was seven and ended up out here. I'd love to go back some day, but my parents refuse to. I guess there's too many bad memories there for them or something." He shrugged.

"Tidus!" The co-worker who had Selphie feed the snakes walked around the shelves, her hands on her hips. "Get back to work or else I'll go get Cid on your ass!"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Tifa." Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "He gave Selphie and apologetic look and then walked away to get back to whatever it was he was doing.

"Selphie, man the register for a while." Tifa instructed.

Selphie nodded and made her way to the register. Part of her wondered how long she would last working in the pet shop.

* * *

"Thank you so much, young man." An old woman said, looking at Riku fondly. At her feet rested a plain, gray cat carrier and the animal inside was growling in contempt. "I always lose sight of the little dear and nobody around here helps anymore."

Riku plastered a charming smile on his face, willing himself to pay no attention to the scratched running down his arm. The cat wasn't very happy about him climbing up the tree to get it down. "It was no trouble, ma'm." He lied.

"At least let me give you this in return." The old woman handed Riku two-hundred munny. "Make sure you get those scratches looked over." She said as Riku accepted the munny. After that, she picked up the cat carrier and shuffled away, talking to the disgruntled cat.

Riku dropped the munny in his munny pouch and then continued down the street towards the bulletin board to see what other odd jobs he could do.

'_If I keep this up I'll have the munny in no time.'_ He thought, pleased. _'I've already made one-thousand munny, so in another week I'll have almost enough. Sora and Selphie are working actual part-time jobs, so it might take them longer unless they get a second part-time job.' _He glanced over to his left to look through the window of one of the many shops lining Tram Common. There was a large 'Help Wanted' sign in the window, but that wasn't what caught his attention. There, right out in front, was a crown pendant secured to a sturdy looking chain. The listed price for it was one-thousand munny, but there was a big red sticker marking it half price.

Normally, Riku was not a compulsive buyer and when he did buy something compulsively he would feel regret almost right after he'd buy it. But that time as he left the store he didn't feel the least bit of regret.

'_Selphie may kill me for spending munny already, but it will be worth it.'_ He slid his hands into his pockets and a small smile came to his lips when he felt the cool metal chain. _'Definitely worth it.'_

* * *

Dinner that night was, for the most part, quiet like it had been for the past few nights. Sora picked at his food, for once not much in the mood to eat anything. Riku kept his eyes on his plate the whole time and forced himself to eat something. Selphie ate slowly, her green eyes flickering back and forth between the two boys, wondering if something else had happened to them.

"Soo…." She set her spoon down for a moment. "Working at the pet shop I make about five-hundred-seventy munny an hour. What about you, Sora?"

"Four-fifty." The brunet mumbled.

"How much did you make today, Riku?" Selphie asked.

"One-thousand-fifty munny." Riku replied after a moment of hesitation.

The numbers cheered Selphie up a little. "That's great! At this rate we'll be leaving for Radiant Garden in no time!" She looked disappointed when neither of the boys shared her enthusiasm. With a huff, she stood up. "I'm going to leave you two to sulk and be all pissy. I'll see you in the morning." She told them before she left, walking into the room on the right.

Riku and Sora continued eating, or picking at the food, for a while longer. It was then that Riku chanced a glance at Sora and noticed that he had eaten very little.

"Sora, you should eat more." He said.

Sora didn't look over at Riku as he mumbled, "Not hungry."

Rikku frowned. Sora was _never _not hungry. "You're going to make yourself sick. You really should eat something."

Sora glared at Riku as he got to his feet. "I said I'm not hungry!" He yelled before turning around and stomping out of the room. At the base of the stairs he slammed his plate into the garbage can, which made Riku wince.

"Damn it…" The white-haired boy muttered to himself. "Way to go, Riku. Piss him off right before bed, that's brilliant." Scowling, he got to his feet and walked over to the right hand stairs, pausing to drop his plate in the trash, and then continued on up to the room he claimed.

He sat down on his make-shift bed of sleeping bags and then let himself fall backwards. He was exhausted from running around doing off jobs and from the on-going fight with Sora.

"It's got to end tonight." Riku said to himself. He sat up and removed the chain from his pocket. He held it up and watched the light reflect off of the crown for a moment. Then he reached under his "mattress" and retrieved his pocket knife. Ever so carefully, he began carving out words into the back of the pendant.

Nearly an hour later, Riku crept across the hall and carefully cracked open Sora's bedroom door to check and see if he was asleep. Upon finding that Sora was asleep, Riku moved stealthily across the room to him and carefully laid out the chain on Sora's pillow. Then he tiptoed back across the room and left, quietly shutting the door behind him. Minutes later her was back in his own room getting ready to go to bed.

Several hours passed before Sora rolled over onto the necklace. The sudden coolness against his face stirred him into wakefulness. He sat up slowly and looked sleepily at the chain before he picked it up to look at it. The light of the moon shining through the windows reflected off of the metal.

'_Where did this come from?' _He wondered. _'It wasn't there before. Maybe…' _A wild thought entered his brain and he gulped. _'Maybe this place is haunted! And the ghost likes me!'_

Sora practically sprang out of his bed and raced out of his room and down the hall to Riku's room, not even stopping to consider that they were still fighting. He pushed open the door and walked right over to Riku and shook his shoulder. "Riku! Wake up!" He whispered, fearful that the ghost might hear him.

"Huh?" Riku sleepily mumbled, cracking open his eyes.

"Riku! The mansion's haunted and the ghost is after me!" Sora hurriedly whispered, looking around the room. "Look! It left this on my pillow!" He held up the chain.

Riku groaned when he saw what it was and closed his eyes. "Did you even think to read the back of it?" He tiredly asked.

"Huh?" Sora looked confused for a moment and then turned over the chain. He struggled to read it until Riku turned on his lamp.

"Our destiny's intertwined and our hearts connected, my love for you is never-ending." Sora read out loud. He opened his mouth to say something about the ghost, but shut it when he reread the words. His eyes widened and he looked down at Riku, who calmly awaited his reaction.

"Y-you love me?" Sora whispered, sitting down on the edge of the pile of sleeping bags. "Is that why you got mad about me being around the girl who thought was the princess? But you were the one flirting with her!"

"To make you jealous." Riku said defensively. "But only because you were the one who flirted with her first."

Sora scowled. "I was being nice, Riku."

"Didn't look that way to me."

Sora crossed his arms over his chest and got up. "If you're going to be such an ass then I don't want the necklace."

"Sora, wait." Riku said, reaching up and snagging Sora's t-shirt before he could escape. "I'm sorry, okay? I messed up."

Sora wasn't convinced that easily. If anything, he was even more angry. "So what, you expect me to forgive you just like that?"

"Damn it, Sora! Listen to me for once!" Riku snapped, getting ready to stand up. "I said I was sorry! I didn't ask if you forgive me or not!" He stood up and Sora backed away a little, intimidated by Riku's height. "And the necklace has nothing to do with my apology." Riku continued, his voice softening. He released his grip on Sora's shirt. "That is to show that I do love you, even though I never said it before."

Sora uncrossed his arms and his scowl disappeared. Of all the things he imagined Riku saying, that wasn't it. He trembled as he wrapped his arms around Riku's chest. "Love you too, Riku." He murmured as he felt Riku's arm wrap protectively around him.

They remained that way for a few minutes, reveling in the fact that they were finally talking again. Then Sora pulled away from Riku and looked up into his eyes.

"I forgive you." He said with a smile. "But you're still an ass."

Riku chuckled and kissed the top of Sora's head. "I know. I have a nice ass, don't I?"

Sora laughed and turned a light shade of red. "Way to ruin the mood, Riku!"

"You did it first." Riku replied. "Now, lets get some sleep. We all have work tomorrow."

Sora nodded and turned around to leave, only to be stopped by Riku. He turned back around and looked at Riku questioningly.

"Stay in here, tonight?" Riku asked, sliding the chain from Sora's grip. Before the brunet could protest, he slid it over his head, being careful not to get it tangled in the spiky locks of hair.

Sora reached down to touch the pendant, liking the comforting weight of it against his chest. Without a moments hesitation, he gave Riku a smile and agreed.

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

Well, in order to prevent the SoraRiku fight from taking over the story completely, I decided to end it here and now. Now that they may actually behave, I can get back on track with the actual plot. Now I just have to convince Kairi and probably do some speeding up with the chapters and then it'll really be fun to write. Not that it isn't now, but I'm thinking it'll get even more fun the further in I get.

Next chapter: A little flirting between Sora and Riku, the return of Kairi, and a shopping trip.


	3. Chapter 3: To Shop or Not to Shop

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

* * *

**Princess**

_Chapter 3: To Shop or Not to Shop_

Morning found Selphie running around the house in search of Sora, who had breakfast duty but wasn't anywhere near the kitchen. Soon the only room she hadn't checked was Riku's, so she opened the door and looked in. She couldn't help but smile when she was Riku and Sora cuddled up on the bed together.

'_It's about time.' _She thought, pleased by the turn of events. _'I guess I can let him off the hook this time and cook breakfast myself.' _With that thought, she closed the door and went back downstairs.

Once she was gone, Sora whispered, "Is she gone?"

Riku cracked open one eye to check and when he didn't see her he opened both eyes. "She's gone."

"Mmm… good." Sora murmured, snuggling up against Riku. "I don't want to make breakfast today."

"Lazy." Riku teased.

"It's your fault for having such a comfy bed. I knew you took both the good sleeping bags." Sora said.

"Then you'll have to sleep in here more often if you want the comfy bed." Riku said, rather liking the idea of Sora sleeping next to him every night. "Come on, lets get up before Selphie digs out her camera and comes up here to take a picture."

Sora groaned. "I still don't wanna get up."

"Too bad."

That was all the warning that Sora got before Riku ripped away the blankets and got up. Sora whimpered and curled into a ball before he glared up at Riku.

"You ass." He muttered.

Riku smirked. "You love it."

In response, Sora threw a moth-eaten pillow at Riku, managing to hit his butt. That prompted an all-out pillow fight, which Riku won by kissing Sora into submission.

* * *

Three days passed to find them all up early on a Saturday morning eating breakfast together. All three of them had the day off and they were going to get some grocery shopping done and spend the day hanging out.

"Here's the plan, guys." Selphie said, with the air of someone constructing a battle plan. "We're going to go out and get groceries first. We only want the necessities. No soda, Sora. And no chocolate, Riku."

Sora pouted in disappointment and Riku looked nonchalant.

"Then we'll come back here and put the groceries away and then go shopping for some nicer clothes." Selphie said. "Remember, we're not going to wear any of our new clothes until we get to Radiant Garden."

"Yes, mother." Riku said sarcastically, earning himself a glare. "I suppose you want to see the clothes we pick out too?"

"Of course." Selphie said. "Both of you have a poor sense of style. Unless handled tastefully, _Riku_, yellow and blue do not look good together. And Sora, no more red jumpsuits."

Sora stuck his tongue out at Selphie when she wasn't looking. Riku made a mental note to find as many yellow and blue things he possibly could.

"If we see Kairi, don't say anything to her unless she comes up to you." Selphie reminded. "We--"

"Sel, we know." Sora said. "We'll be careful."

The front door began to creak open before Selphie could formulate a reply, which startled the three teens. They were on their feet in a matter of seconds, ready to run if it was the town's authorities.

"Hello?" Kairi asked, stepping halfway into the hall. She sounded nervous and afraid.

"Kairi?" Selphie asked, her eyes wide. She hadn't expected Kairi to actually come out to the mansion to find them. Sora and Riku were surprised too. "What are you doing here  
She didn't sound accusatory, just curious.

Kairi bit her bottom lip and took another step, trying to keep her nerves under control. "Pence convinced me to come. He said it'd be a good idea to hear you guys explain things."

"Really?" Selphie sounded confused. "But why would he say something like that? I thought your friends were convinced we're up to no good."

"I think I know why." Sora spoke up. "Is he the one with dark hair that wears the big red shirt?"

Kairi nodded.

"He came to talk to me the first day I was working." Sora explained. "He wanted to know why we think Kairi is the princess, so I explained it the best I could. I told him about the back of the photo too."

"Come join us and we'll explain things to you." Selphie said. "Would you like some breakfast?"

Kairi shook her head as she shut the door. Then she walked cautiously across the room and sat down a few feet away from them. "So you guys are really staying here? I didn't think you were serious."

"Cheapest place around." Riku said, self-consciously reaching out and pulling Sora closer to him. He got a smile and a light tap on the arm from the brunet.

"I have your locket in my room. Remind me to give it to you before you leave." Selphie said as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, what do you want to know? Should I tell you everything or do you already have an idea why we think you're the princess?"

"Start at the beginning." Kairi requested, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Selphie nodded. "This whole thing started about… five years ago when Sora and I were twelve and Riku had just turned thirteen. We were bored and Sora somehow got hold of my photo and started examining it. That's when we discovered there was something written on the back."

_Flashback_

_Twelve-year-old Sora ran over to Selphie and Riku, calling their names excitedly. His hair was a darker brown and his eyes a lighter blue. Selphie's hair was shorter and didn't hold a curl at the end. Riku's hair was also shorter and appeared somewhat spiky._

"_Guys! Look what I found!" Sora exclaimed upon reaching them._

_The other two huddled around him and Sora pointed out the faint words written on the back of the photo. It took a moment for it to click in Selphie and Riku's minds._

"_No way!" Selphie exclaimed, her eyes wide. "But I can't be the princess! I'm a servant's daughter, remember?" She gestured to the silver band on her upper arm for good measure._

"_Maybe you knew her." Riku suggested. "And that's why you have her photo. Or maybe we're meant to go out and find her!"_

_Sora nodded eagerly. "Yeah, it could be our first big adventure! We always said we'd go on one some day."_

"_Could we maybe… look for our families too?" Selphie hesitantly suggested. "Since we'll be out there looking around anyway."_

"_Good idea." Sora agreed. "I wonder what my parents look like. Hey, do you think I have any brothers or sisters? I bet Riku has two older brothers who will pick on him!"_

_Riku rolls his eyes. "I bet you're an only child."_

"_I hope you have an evil stepmother!" Sora retorted._

"_I bet you'll live with your grandparents."_

"_Oh yeah?! Well-"_

_End Flashback_

"Their argument continued on for a while longer." Selphie remembered. "It actually evolved into biting and hair pulling. Them girls."

"We are not!" Sora protested.

Riku smirked and tugged on one of Sora's spikes. "I'm not, but you I'm not too sure about. You're short-"

"Am not." Sora muttered.

"You have pretty eyes-"

"That proves nothing."

Riku ran a finger down Sora's spine, making the younger boy shiver. "You're extremely sensitive."

"Don't do that." Sora muttered, smacking away Riku's hand.

"You're almost as curvy as Selphie."

Sora glared. Selphie tried to stifle a giggling, finding their bantering very amusing. Kairi looked torn between amusement and bewilderment, unsure of how to take the two's flirting.

"You spend an unholy amount of time in the shower." Riku continued. "You love the beach far more than any other person because you like watching the sun set over the water. You _enjoy shopping_. Need I go on?"

Sora continued to glare at Riku. "I hate you."

Riku smirked. "Love you too, honey."

"Ignore them." Selphie told Kairi, deciding it was time to get back to the original topic. "So, we found the message on the back and began making plans to get out of there and find the princess and our families. We left the orphanage when we were fourteen and took the first train out of there. We ended up in Olympus City and found we had to work some odd jobs to make munny. We ended up lying about our ages and managed to avoid going to school at the same time. We almost got caught a few times. Anyway, it wasn't until about a year and a half ago that we learned about the reward munny. We talked it over and decided to use it to find our families if we ever found the real princess. It was about that time that those two finally came out of the closet and started dating after years of flirting with each other." She chose to ignore the protests she got from the boys. "So then our main goal became finding the princess in order to find our families. So that's what we've been doing ever since." She paused a moment. "When's your birthday?"

Kairi shrugged. "I'm not completely sure. We think it's mid-spring."

Selphie tugged her wallet free from her pocket and carefully slid out the old picture and handed it to Kairi. "The photo is of a baby with dark hair and blue-colored eyes. The date-of-birth written on the back says April 21st. The photo was taken four months after she was born."

"What does that prove?" Kairi asked.

"When you add in the fact that you have the exact same picture in a locket, you were born in spring, and have auburn hair and bluish eyes, things start to point towards you being the princess."

"But I can't be!" Kairi exclaimed. She tried to think of some reason why she absolutely could not be the princess, but found nothing.

"There's a very good chance that you could be." Sora pointed out. "It's worth a try, right? And if it turns out you aren't the princess, then we'll personally escort you back here if you'd like."

"You have nothing to lose." Riku said. "We pay for everything, so you don't have to worry about munny. If any of your friends want to come along, then we'll pay for their way too. It'll just take a while longer to get there."

"I guess it's worth a shot." Kairi hesitantly said. "I want Pence to come with us."

"No problem." Selphie said immediately. That alone showed how much she wanted Kairi to come. She didn't want to give Kairi any excuse to change her mind.

"We're going shopping for food and then clothes." Sora said. "Do you want to come with us?"

Kairi shook her head. "No. I'm going to head back to the Usual Spot and talk to Pence."

Selphie quickly explained their shopping plan to Kairi and then added, "If you can join us later, that'd be great. You can bring Pence along too. I could use some help with getting those two some nice clothes. They go out of their way to ignore me lately."

The boys exchanged grins and then gave Selphie their best 'innocent' looks.

"I don't know who you think you're kidding." Selphie said. "'Cause it certainly isn't me." She stood up and dusted off her jeans. "We have shopping to do, boys! Lets get to it!"

The boys groaned good-naturedly.

* * *

"How about this?" Sora asked hopefully, holding up a bright red t-shirt.

"No." Selphie shot him down without looking over to see what he was holding. "You need something dark, but with bright colors. Something so uniquely you that there is no way we will find it here." With a sigh, she set aside the pair of jeans she was looking at. "Lets pay for Riku's pants and get out of here."

Riku looked in disgust at the pale, plain jeans that Selphie had picked out for him. "Do we have to?"

Selphie put her hands on her hips. "You have shot down every single pair of jeans that I have shown you. Exactly _what _is wrong with this pair?"

"They're uncomfortable."

Selphie threw her hands in the air with an exasperated sigh. "Fine! Put them back! I _swear_, the two of you are such _girls_!"

Riku happily laid the jeans on a random table and together the three of them walked out of the store and back onto the streets of Twilight Town.

"Now where are we going to go? Selphie asked, sounding annoyed. "We've been to every single clothing store in Twilight Town."

"Not every store." Riku informed her. "There's one called 'Final Fantasy' that I've heard about around town. It's suppose to have some unique clothes."

"It's worth a shot." Selphie said with a sigh. "Where is it?"

"I think it's this way." Riku said. He took Sora's hand and then began walking down the street. Selphie followed a short distance behind to give the two some space.

'_They're lucky.'_ Selphie thought. _'They have each other to always count on and hold hands with and flirt and all that. It makes me feel… lonely. I know I can count on them when I need them; they are my brothers. It's just that I'm seventeen now and not once have I had a boyfriend. I guess that's the downside to living with two gay guys.'_

Riku led them right up to the door of Final Fantasy without getting lost and Selphie quickly reminded them of their budget before they went in. Sora immediately got lost amongst the clothes and soon after, Riku did as well. Selphie let them be so she could get some shopping of her own done. She quickly found a cute yellow dress that she knew she had to have. She gathered up a few pairs of jeans and some shirts and a longer yellow sundress before going to hunt down the changing room. Along the way she bumped into Kairi and Pence.

"You made it!" She exclaimed happily. "Great! You can come tell me what you think of my clothes." Without waiting for a reply, she took Kairi by the arm and tugged her over to the changing room. Pence followed with an amused expression on his face.

Selphie tried on the shorter yellow dress first and came out and spun around once before looking at Kairi and Pence hopefully. "Cute, isn't it?" She asked.

Kairi nodded. "It looks good."

Pence looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "It's missing something…" He thought for another minute and then snapped his fingers. "I'll be right back!" He said as he hurried off into the aisles. He returned a few minutes later with a pair of brown sandals. "Here," He said, handing them to Selphie. "They'll go with your dress much better than the sneakers do. Plus, you can wear them with nearly anything."

Selphie looked surprised, but took the shoes and tried them on.

"Much better." Pence said, pleased.

"Well, I see now why Olette always takes you shopping with her." Kairi said. "You give good fashion advice. Pity Hayner never listens." She looked over at Selphie, who was looking herself over in the full-length mirror. "What's next?"

Selphie beamed, pleased to have someone who was interested in her clothes. She disappeared back into the changing room, coming out to show them every outfit and to get some advice. She managed to keep the price within her budget and was soon trying to convince Kairi to get at least two cute dresses for their trip to Radiant Garden. The redhead eventually caved under Pence and Selphie's prodding. When they dragged her back to the changing soon so she could try on a zippered pink dress and a longer white sundress with pink flowers climbing up the skirt, they came across Riku.

"Find anything to your liking?" Selphie asked.

In response, Riku held up a plastic bag. "I'm waiting for Sora. He was having trouble finding something, so I helped him out. Now he won't come out and show me." He raised his voice to tell Sora to come out so he could see.

"Give me a minute!" Sora yelled, sounding annoyed. "Did you have to pick out the one thing with the most buck- WHOA!" There was a loud 'thump' as Sora fell over and collided with the wall. A few minutes later he hobbled out with a scowl on his face.

"Wow, Sora that looks…" Selphie struggled to find the right word to describe how the clothes looked on him, but ended up with, "Great." Not believing that Riku managed to find something so uniquely Sora, she went over to the brunet and walked circles around him. She corrected a few unattached yellow belts and snapped one of the bright red pockets shut, but otherwise found nothing wrong. "I don't believe it. You managed to find something perfect for Sora." She told Riku.

Sora turned and looked in the mirror. "Really? I mean, it is really comfy."

Selphie sighed. "Why do I hear a 'but' coming up?"

"It's really dark." Sora said. "I'm not sure if I like the black."

"It looks fine." Riku said, walking over to straighten out the jacket. "Much better than the red." He kissed him on the cheek and then pushed him toward the changing room. He turned around to find the other three staring at him and fell back on the single most overused defensive line of, "What?"

"What happened to 'no public displays of affection'?" Selphie asked, sounding a little amused.

Riku shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Why? Am I bothering someone?" He looked pointedly at Pence, as if daring him to say something.

"Doesn't bother me." Pence said, meeting Riku's eyes. In truth, it bothered him a little, but not to the point of complete disgust. It was more of an uncomfortable feeling.

"Great." Selphie said, breaking up the tension. "Kairi, go try on those so we can see."

They heard another 'thump' from Sora's stall and Riku sighed.

"I'm going to go help him." He murmured before walking into the room and sneaking into Sora's stall. The others heard Sora ask Riku what he was doing before he fell silent.

"Riku, Sora, if you two do anything that will result in us getting kicked out, I will personally strangle both of you with my jump rope!" Selphie threatened.

"They wouldn't really, would they?" Kairi asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Selphie shook her head. "They've only been back together for a little while. And anyway, they wouldn't do something like that in such a public place. Riku's barely comfortable with holding Sora's hand while we're out walking."

"Really?" Kairi asked. "I never would have guessed."

Selphie hummed and then prodded Kairi's shoulder. "Go try those on. We need to see if they fit." She waited until Kairi was in the dressing room before turning to face Pence. "Do you want to get anything?"

Pence shook his head. "I've got some nice things at home that I can wear." He paused for a minute or two. "So, you really think Kairi is the one?"

Selphie nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

A nice little fun chapter with a little background on how the Trio decided to set off on their adventure. And I love the RikuSora banter.

Next chapter things really get rolling and I'll be speeding things up a little. I also get to introduce a few more characters! (dances in joy) It'll be fun. Lots and lots and lots of fun.


	4. Chapter 4: The Usual Mayhem

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

* * *

**Princess**

_Chapter 4_

A blonde girl around the age of seventeen stood in front of her art easel, thoughtfully tapping her paintbrush against her hip. Already sketched out on the crisp, white board was a simple drawing of the view outside her window. A gentle sigh fell from her lips and she laid the brush down on her paint table before turning around to look at the door. "Roxas, I know you're there."

A boy with spiky blonde hair stepped out from around the doorway and walked unsurely into the room, dragging his sneaker clad feet against the floor. If he and the girl were to stand side-by-side, one would assume that the two were siblings. Aside from their sunshine-blonde hair, they both were pale, had blue eyes, and wore white.

"It's almost April, Naminé." Roxas said, sounding upset.

Naminé cast her eyes to the ground. Every year around that time the entire castle seemed to sink into a depression because of the upcoming birthday of the missing member of the royal family.

"It's been over ten years." She said softly. "Maybe it's time we moved on."

"How can you say that?" Roxas demanded, sounding deeply offended. "How can you even think that? I can't believe you would say something so cruel! How heartless can you be?!" Abruptly, he spun on his heel and ran out of the room, fighting back tears.

Naminé flinched when he slammed the door behind him. She stood there for a few minutes, staring unseeingly at the floor as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm tired of being sad." She whispered to herself, wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't want to be sad anymore."

* * *

"Kairi, where are we going?" Selphie asked.

"You'll see." Kairi replied.

Three weeks had passed since the trio arrived in town and they were finally beginning to get plans finalized so they could leave for Radiant Garden. They were beginning to count down the days until they were leaving. Sora even made up a little tune to go along with his chant of, "Four more days! Four more days!"

In the remaining time, Kairi was determined to show them her favorite places around Twilight Town. That day she was taking them up to the station to see the clock tower. The next day they had plans to go over to Sunset Terrace and the day after that they were going to the beach.

"Hey, I see the clock tower!" Sora exclaimed. "Looks really cool against the sky. Hey, do you suppose we could go up there? I bet the view is amazing from the top."

"It is." Pence agreed. "You can see practically all of Twilight Town."

Sora looked excited. "Are we going up there? Today? Hey, Riku!" He ran forward and took Riku's hand and began chatting with him excitedly. Pence shook his head in amusement.

It was hard for him to believe how three people could just show up and change everything in such a short amount of time. Normally he and Kairi would be hanging out with Hayner and Olette, but the two were avoiding him and Kairi, upset that they were listening to the three strangers and actually believing them.

'_They'll get over it, I hope.'_ Pence thought. _'They have to. They just have to.'_

* * *

"Cloud?" Naminé questioned, peering into the kitchen. She waved at the scarred brunet sitting at the table and then focused on the blonde-haired man in the apron who was hovering near the stove.

"Cloud." She repeated his name and got his attention. "Have you seen Roxas anywhere?"

"Not since breakfast." Cloud said. He peered anxiously at a large pot and then looked over at the brunet man. "Have you, Squall?"

"He ran past here an hour or two ago." Squall said. "He's probably hanging out with the Firehaven prince. I don't see how those two are best friends."

Naminé rolled her eyes. "They're about as best friends as you and Cloud are."

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Naminé…!" He said warningly.

"What are Aunt Aerith and Uncle Zack going to say when they learn there won't be any mini-Squall's or mini-Cloud's running around because the two of you are gay?" Naminé asked teasingly. "Aunt Aerith has always dreamed of you marrying Princess what's-her-face and having kids. She'll be crushed."

"Her _name _is Princess Rinoa." Squall informed her. "And Queen Aerith will have to get over it. Cloud is _**mine **_and he's _not _marrying anyone but _me."_

Silence settled over the room before Cloud zoomed across it like a rocket and nearly tackled Squall to the floor. "So you do want to get married! Why didn't you say anything all those times I tried to bring up the topic?!"

Naminé enjoyed the panicked look on the younger man's face for a moment before a hissing noise from the stove caught her attention. "Hey, Cloud, the pot is boiling over."

With a curse, Cloud leapt off his boyfriend and ran over to the stove. Ignoring the glare she was getting from Squall, Naminé left the room to hunt down Roxas. Figuring that she would most likely find him and Prince Axel Firehaven in the stables, she headed in that direction first. Instead of finding them there, she found the three Ross brothers- Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj. After promising Loz that she would paint him a pretty picture of a weeping cherry tree in full bloom, she hurried off to the courtyard to see if Roxas and Axel were sparring. She found several of the soldiers there, but not sign of Axel or Roxas.

Naminé was starting to worry. Roxas wasn't in his room or in Axel's room. He wasn't in the library or the kitchen. He wasn't in the stables or out for a ride or sparring in the courtyard. "Where is he?" She whispered.

"Where is who?"

Naminé jumped in fright and then turned around to see the pink-haired gardener, Marluxia, standing behind her with his green watering can. "Have you seen Roxas?" She asked, unable to hide her worry. Something about Marluxia always made her want to tell him everything and hope that he could help fix whatever was bothering her.

"Sorry, haven't seen him." Marluxia said, sounding distracted. "Say, have you seen Larxene? She was threatening the lives of children this morning over breakfast and I want to make sure she's not following through with her plans." Larxene was his on-again off-again girlfriend who was much like a firecracker; beautiful, but deadly when set off.

Naminé thought for a moment and then nodded. "I saw her about twenty minutes ago in the library. She seemed pretty engrossed in her book. I think it was called 'Men: The Weaker Sex' or something."

"Great." Marluxia said with a groan. "I'll go check on her once I'm done watering my babies. Why don't you go see if Roxas is with Axel in the dining hall with Yuffie, Zexion, Xigbar, and - uh- what's-his-face- Oh! Demyx. Yeah, go see if he's with all them."

Naminé thanked him and then hurried off to the dining hall. She had forgotten that the two liked meeting up with their friends there.

Sure enough, Axel and Roxas were there hanging out with their usual group of friends. Roxas glanced over at her and then immediately looked way and focused all of his attention on the story that Demyx, another blue-eyed blonde, was telling. He was still angry at Naminé for what she said earlier. Pursing her lips, Naminé marched over to the table and took a seat beside a raven-haired girl who wore a headband.

"Hey!" The girl happily greeted, giving Naminé a quick hug. "Demyx was just telling us about the time the two of you visited Atlantica Port and met Princess Arial. Sounds like she was tons of fun to hang out with."

"Nice to see you too, Yuffie." Naminé said with a laugh. "And yeah, she was. I think Demyx here was especially taken with the red-haired beauty." She teased.

Demyx blushed. "I- I was not!" He protested. "And anyway, she's engaged to that Prince Eric guy."

"And you're gay." Axel said with a smirk.

Demyx's jaw dropped and he looked at Axel in shock, hurt that he told everyone just like that. Beside him, the eye-patch wearing sharpshooter, Xigbar, howled with laughter and fell out of his chair and collided with a man with dreadlocks, who in turn fell over onto a blonde man with multiple piercing's who was playing card games with a silver-haired man and a blue-haired man with an x-shaped scar on his face. The cards went flying into the air and scattered across the table and floor, a few hitting nearby people. The surprise chain reaction sent the normally calm blonde gambler into such a rage that he ended up strangling the nearest person, a sickly-looking guy with long blonde hair, until Xigbar pulled out his sniper gun and shot it into the air.

The dining hall instantly went silent, broken only by the sound of a slate-gray-haired man turning the page in his book, disinterested in the chaos around him.

Xigbar looked around, wondering why everyone was staring at him. When he realized why, he put away his gun and then marched over to the two blonde's and pulled them apart before saying, "Everything's fine now! Go back to eating!" He waited until most of everyone's attention was off of him and proceeded to tell the two off before leaving them in the hands of the silver-haired guy, the superior in their "organization", Xemnas.

Happy that he got to shoot his gun and tell off two people, Xigbar rejoined the others. "So, what's this about Demyx being gay?"

Demyx groaned and let his head fall against the table. "Axel, I'm going to get you for this later."

"No thanks." Axel said, reaching under the table to lay his hand on Roxas's keg. "I've already got an adorable blonde who's even more molestable than you."

Roxas glared at him and smacked his hand away. "I am _not _adorable."

"Yes you are." Axel said, putting his hand right back on Roxas's leg. "He's adorable, right guys?"

Demyx looked uneasily at the redhead. "The last time I answered that question you hit me. I'm not taking the bait this time."

"He's absolutely the most adorable!" Yuffie squealed, not worried about Axel hitting her. She could easily knock him out if he tried. "And Demyx is a close second, right Naminé?"

"Can you please not ask me how cute I find guys I'm related to?" Naminé asked. "It's kind of weird."

"I guess that is kind of weird." Yuffie admitted. "Okay, change of subject time! Who's excited about the upcoming ball?"

For the rest of lunch they talked about the ball and how much they were either completely excited about it or absolutely dreading it and searching for a way to get out of it.

* * *

"Sora…" Riku gritted his teeth and tried to avoid looking at his boyfriend. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and snapped, "Sora! Will you get off the rail before you fall and kill yourself?!"

Sora laughed before hopping down from the rail around Sunset Hill. "Relax, Riku. I wasn't going to fall."

Riku crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't know that." He argued. "You could easily slip and fall and-… and then what could I do?"

The smile slipped off of Sora's face and he padded over to Riku and hugged him. "I'm sorry for scaring you yesterday." He whispered as Riku wrapped his arms around him. "I'll be more careful. I promise."

"Good." Riku murmured, closing his eyes. In his mind, the scene of Sora nearly falling off the top of the clock tower replayed. If it hadn't been for Pence and Kairi's quick thinking, Sora wouldn't have been standing there with him or anywhere else for that matter.

"I can't leave the two of you alone for five minutes, can I?" Selphie remarked as she returned with Kairi and Pence. The three of them had left to go hunt down some ice cream as well as to give the boys a little alone time. Like usual, Selphie couldn't help but tease them.

"We found the ice cream stand, but it was closed." Kairi said. "We'll have to go into town to get some."

"Oh, that's okay." Sora said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Hey, lets work on a bit more dancing while we're here! We've only got a little while before we'll be at Radiant Garden."

Selphie nodded. "Good idea. Sora, you help Kairi and Pence while I help Riku. He still doesn't know how to tell his left foot from his right."

"I can too!" Riku said, glaring at Selphie.

"You suck at dancing, Ri." Sora said, planting a kiss on his cheek before walking over to join Pence and Kairi.

"Your ass is mine tonight!" Riku called after him.

"Ew, too much information." Selphie remarked.

Riku scowled. "Not like that, Sel. You're such a closet pervert."

Selphie shook her head. "Nope. Unfortunately for you, I'm a fully out-of-the-closet pervert. If you want proof then I'll show you all of the pictures of you and Sora that I've accumulated over the years."

"No thanks." Riku said. "Now, remind me how it goes."

With a sigh, Selphie showed him the steps for what felt like the hundredth time. She winced whenever he trodden on her feet and after a while she grew tired of it and had to stop.

"I give up." She said. "Riku, are you even trying?"

"Of course I am!" Riku exclaimed. "And I can't give up! I want to learn. I have to." He glanced over at Sora to see him gracefully spinning Kairi around before pulling her back. "It'd help if we had music."

"We do have music." Selphie said dismissively. "It's just, uh, invisible."

"Invis--?" Riku paused and looked down at the brunette with an amused half-smile on his face. "Invisible music, huh?"

"Yes, exact--ly." Selphie paused and then smacked Riku's arm. "Shut up! You know what I mean!"

Riku chuckled. "Invisible music. You're something else, Sel."

Selphie scowled and then stomped his foot, making him yowl in pain. Once he recovered, she led him back through the routine again and again and again until he had it memorized.

"It's getting late, guys!" Pence announced around the time that everyone had had enough practice for one day. "We're getting up early to go to the beach, right?"

"We leave at seven." Selphie replied. "How can you tell how late it is? It seems a little darker, but it's not a huge difference."

Kairi shrugged. "You grow up here and you learn pretty fast how to figure out the time by looking outside. That and Pence has a watch."

Pence raised his hand so everyone could see his wristwatch. Laughing, they began the descent from Sunset Hill and headed back into town.

* * *

Naminé carefully mixed her pink and white paint until it was the exact shade she wanted. Picking up her small brush, she dipped it in the paint and turned around to look at her newest painting. She had already finished the clear blue sky and puffy white clouds and the snowcapped mountains and spring green grass. She had even gotten the tree trunk and branches finished. All that was left was the paint the flowers and sign and date it. She took a deep breath to center herself, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. With a sigh, she set aside her brush, having a feeling that it was either her brother or her cousin. "Come in."

The door opened and Demyx walked in. When he saw that he had interrupted her while she was painting, he grinned sheepishly. "Hey, you're looking lively."

"Something you wanted?" Naminé asked, wanting to get back to her painting as soon as possible.

The grin slid from Demyx's face and was replaced by a look of nervousness. He glanced around the hallway before shutting the door. "I need some advice."

"Okay, have a seat." Naminé said, gesturing to the plain white couch against the window. She sat down on her stool and waited until Demyx was comfortably seated. "So what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong exactly." Demyx said, fidgeting. "It's just that, well, Axel told everyone at lunch that I'm gay and ever since then he's been avoiding me!"

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "I'd think you'd be glad that Axel's avoiding you. Although--"

"No, no!" Demyx exclaimed, shaking his head. "Not Axel. I wish he'd avoid me, then I could actually concentrate on my music. No, _**he **_has been avoiding me."

Naminé was puzzled for a moment and was about to ask, "He who?" when it clicked in her brain. "Oh! You mean the guy you like! Okay, so do you usually see him every day?"

Demyx nodded. "Uh huh! Every day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes he comes down to the music room and listens to me play while he reads his book or writes in his notebook. But he wasn't at dinner yesterday or breakfast this morning or lunch today! I even went up to the library to look for him but the only person there was Larxene and she scares me so I got out of there as soon as I could and--"

"Demyx!" Naminé interrupted before he could get too hysterical. "Calm down and breathe! I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for why you haven't seen him. Now think, are you sure he was at lunch yesterday."

Demyx nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Okay, have you asked the others if they've seen them?" She asked.

Demyx nodded again.

"Did you check the hospital wing?"

Demyx looked alarmed. "I didn't! Oh no, what if he's hurt or dying and I'm not there to help him get be--"

"Demyx!" Naminé interrupted again. "I need you to breathe and not talk until you've calmed down. If you're not careful you'll end up having an asthma attack and then you'll be the one in the hospital wing for overtaxing yourself." She paused to breathe and gather her thoughts. "Okay, I'm sure he's not dying or anything like that and if it's who I think it is, he's too stubborn to go down there for something like a common cold. Have you checked his room?"

Demyx nodded.

"Was he there?"

Demyx shook his head.

"Did anyone answer?"

Again, Demyx shook his head.

"Do you think that if he were sick he would get up to answer the door?"

Demyx nodded. And then he frowned and shook his head. Then he nodded again before whimpering, "I don't know."

Naminé sighed. "How about this: I'll walk upstairs with you to check on him and if he's not there then I'll help you look."

"You'd do that?" Demyx asked, surprised.

"Of course." Naminé said, glancing briefly at her painting. She forced a smile on her face and stood up. "Lets go hunt down your elusive mysterious crush." She walked over to the door and opened it.

Demyx got up and followed her out the door. He couldn't help but ask, "How did you know who it was?"

"There were only two people missing at dinner, breakfast, and lunch." Naminé replied. "I very much doubt that you have a crush on Lexaeus, so that leaves only one other person. Hey, did you know your two's numbers are inversions of one another's?"

Demyx looked amused. "Kind of like how if you add the numbers in thirteen together you get half of eight?"

"Exactly!"

Demyx grinned. "You're such a fan girl, Nami."

Naminé easily linked arms with Demyx. "My one flaw." She said jokingly. "Now come! Lets go find the one whose name rhymes with--"

"Naminé!" Demyx exclaimed, going pink.

"I wasn't going to say that!" Naminé exclaimed. "I'm not Axel! I was going to say 'hex', I swear!"

Demyx raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, no." Naminé admitted. "I really was going to say--"

"_Don't say it!"_

Naminé grinned deviously. "Sexy."

"Aww!" Demyx groaned. "You said it! Why'd you have to go and say it? Now I'll be thinking about that when we find him! He'll kill me if I call him Sexy Zexy again!"

"Not my problem."

"Naaaaaamiiiiii!"

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

It probably would have been better if I had brought in Naminé and the others earlier, but it's too late now. I didn't really have anything to write about them earlier anyway. And I love writing Naminé this way instead of having her be all quiet and sitting in the background. I feel like in the game she had to sit in the background to stay alive for as long as she could. In this story she doesn't have to deal with that and can be all teasing and stuff.

If the paragraph where Xigbar bumps into people from laughing too hard is a little confusing, I'll be happy to answer any questions. I like it when I get to guess which characters are which to see if I'm right when their names are given, but I know some people don't like that.

And I don't know what it is with me and making Cloud enjoy cooking. Maybe it's the image of him in a frilly apron.

So, next chapter things get a little more serious and the plot really starts rolling.


	5. Chapter 5: Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix.

* * *

**Princess**

_Chapter 5: Discovery_

Kairi stared up at the crumbling, graffiti covered wall and felt a shiver run down her spine. She stepped a little closer to see the names of those who were lost in the war that left her and so many other children orphaned nearly ten years ago. The wall was all that remained to show that the world happened.

"They call it the Gate of Hollow Bastion." Selphie said sadly, walking up beside Kairi. "The queen wanted it to remain as a memorial of sorts. There were a bunch of people who didn't like the idea. They wanted to replace it with a statue or something else."

Kairi frowned. "I remember seeing on the news how some people tried to tear it down themselves. The King and Queen had to send out the royal guard to stop them."

Selphie nodded. "Yeah."

"It represents their failure to protect their homes." Riku remarked as he, Pence, and Sora joined them. "It makes perfect sense that they'd want it torn down."

"You don't agree with them, do you?" Sora worriedly asked.

"Of course not." Riku said. "I only meant that I can understand why they'd want it taken down. Personally, I think it shows their strength that let them recover and reclaim Radiant Garden. But that's enough about the wall. It's getting late and it'll take a while to get to the palace. We need to find a nearby hotel to stay the night."

The others agreed and were soon settling down in the cheapest hotel they could find. They laid blankets out on the floor, ignoring the old twin beds, and tried to get some sleep.

Selphie was the first to wake up the next morning. She let the others sleep in for a while longer while she went about with her usual morning routine. When she returned from the bathroom, Pence was up making coffee.

"Good morning." He greeted.

Selphie hesitantly bade him good morning and then set about making a light breakfast. She had a feeling that everyone would be feeling too nervous to eat very much.

By the time breakfast was ready, the others had woken up and were dressed. Quietly, they all sat down to eat. Even Sora, who would normally fill the silence with mindless chatter, was quiet. Clean up after breakfast proceeded with silence broken only by a few murmured sentences here and there.

As they began to pack up their stuff and the sound of zippers running across their tracks and Velcro pieces being unattached were heard, Sora decided that he had enough of the silence. He began to sing as loudly and as off-key as he possibly could. The others stared at him like he was insane for a few minutes and then gave in and san, or hummed, along with him, keeping up with the off-key tune. At the end of the song they nearly dissolved into giggles and laughter at the ridiculousness of it.

"That's much better." Sora declared, pleased by the result. "This is suppose to be a happy day when none of us can stop talking! We're going to Radiant Garden, the most beautiful city on the coast!"

Selphie nodded in agreement. "Sora's right. And we don't know if we'll be able to speak with the queen right away. We could be there for weeks before we go see her. Now, what do you say to getting out of this depressing place and finding a ride into the city?"

The others agreed. A quick sweep of the room was done to make sure they had everything and then they left to find the trolley into the city.

* * *

Naminé stood back and looked proudly at her finished painting of the cherry tree in full bloom. "Loz will like this." She said to herself.

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're alone or is this a special case?" Axel asked form the doorway.

Naminé turned around to face him and wasn't surprised to see him leaning against the doorframe with an easygoing grin on his face. "Artists are crazy, don't you know?" She asked with a teasing edge to her voice.

Axel chuckled. "True. So, have you seen Roxas anywhere? He disappeared after breakfast."

Naminé shook her head, careful not to shake loose her hair clip. "I've been up here since then. Have you checked with the others or asked Aunt Aerith?"

"Nope. I figured that you would know." Axel said with a shrug.

"I can't keep any better track of him than you can." Naminé said. "Have you seen Loz today?"

"Stables." Axel told her. "It's the only place he and his brothers don't cause trouble. You can visit them later though. Help me find Roxas now."

"I have things to do other than hunt him down." Naminé said, turning away from Axel to straighten her paints. "Your so-called Roxas-radar is better than mine. Find him yourself."

"Help me and I'll give this back to you." With a flourish, Axel produced a small, white electronic device that had Naminé's name written across it in gold. The thing emitted a beep, which made Naminé whirl around to see what it was.

"You!" She exclaimed. "You're the one who took it! Give it back right now!"

"You'll have to catch me first." Axel said with a smirk. He waited a second and then took off down the hall. Naminé ran after him, intent on getting back the device.

* * *

Larxene raised an eyebrow at the short, blonde boy standing in front of her. She kept a disinterested look on her face, showing no sign that she so much as cared about what he was saying.

"You want me to use up my precious time to train you." She drawled. "And what would I get out of that?"

"Nothing." Roxas said honestly.

"Then we have nothing to discuss." Larxene said with a small 'humph!' "I have too much to do to waste my time training some snot-nosed prince." She watched him to wait for his reaction, wondering what it would be.

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "I came to you because I knew you wouldn't make a big deal out of it and won't go easy on me just because of my title." He said, barely concealing his frustration.

Larxene studied him overtop her book, her green eyes calm and calculating. "Fine," She said after a few minutes. "But first you have to do something for me. I am, after all, _very _busy."

Looking at her lounging on the couch with her book, Roxas had a hard time seeing her being very busy. In fact, if it wasn't for her slim, muscular body he would think that all she did every day, all day was sit on the couch reading books!

"What do you want me to do?" Roxas asked, having a slight feeling that he was going to regret asking. However, he knew that if he passed up the opportunity it wouldn't come again soon.

Larxene smirked. 'Hook, line, and sinker.' "I have a list of books I need to get from people around the castle." She waved a strip of paper in the air in an almost lazy manner.

"Done." Roxas said, taking the paper from her. "I do this for you and you train me. Deal?"

"If you say so. Now, shoo." Larxene waved him away, her full attention going back to her book. "I'm at a good part in my book and want to know if she's going to kill this guy or not."

Roxas inched away from Larxene. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."

Larxene made a noncommittal sound and said no more, fully intent on finding out what happened next in her book. Roxas quickly left to track down the missing books.

The thing with Larxene was that in order to get her to do anything one has to get her to say that she will do something. In fact, get it in writing if at all possible. Roxas learned that the hard way after running three more errands for the blonde book-keeper.

"I'm done." He told her, barely hiding his contempt. He dropped a stack of books on her table, trying his best not to glare at her or ask if there was anything else he could do.

"What do you want, a prize?" Larxene drawled, eyeing him over her book.

Roxas scowled. His level of anger was rising and he was finding it harder to control his temper by the second. "No, I want you to train me like you said you would." He said, hardly able to keep a growled edge from his voice.

Larxene picked up on his control as she peered up at him. She watched him stew for a few minutes with a hint of a smirk on her face and then she marked her place in her book. "Go change into something comfortable and meet me down in the courtyard." She told him, closing her book and setting it on top of the stack of books. She stood up and stretched. "She doesn't kill him, by the way." She told him as she left the library.

Feeling oddly relieved, Roxas left through a different door to go to his room.

* * *

Selphie pushed open the door to the café, smiling at the jingling of the bell above the door. She easily located her friends at a window booth and made her way over to them. She took a nearby chair and set it at the end of the table before sitting down.

"So, I found out what we have to do to go see the queen." She told them. Her statement immediately got their attention and they leaned in to better hear her.

"What is it?" Kairi asked anxiously.

"Well, we have to have proof, which we do have, and only one of us can go in with Princess Kairi." Selphie said. "First, we have to prove that Kairi is the princess to three of the King and Queen's advisors and if we do that, then we can see the queen."

"Question!" Sora said, raising his hand. "Why is it only the queen? Shouldn't the king be part of this too?"

Selphie shrugged. "I don't know. All I've heard is that you go talk to the queen. I'm sure we'll see the king later. Any more questions?"

"How soon can we get in?" Riku asked.

"We can meet the advisors today." Selphie said. "It depends on them when we get to see the queen."

There was a pause in the conversation before Kairi spoke up. "Lets go see them after lunch." She said. "No sense in sitting around and worrying about how it'll go, right? We should just get it over with."

No one called Kairi out on her nervousness. They felt the same way that she did. It was like a sickening fear that things would take a turn for the worse.

"After lunch." Selphie agreed.

After that, there was no more serious talk for the rest of lunch. Sora and Pence did their best to keep the conversation humorous and cheery, but even they fell prey to small bouts of silence.

Lunch was quickly over. Instead of sitting around to talk for a while longer, they paid for their food and left.

Next stop: the palace to meet the three advisors.

* * *

A tall, raven-haired man stepped into the kitchen, his heavy boots clunking against the floor. His blue eyes twinkled as he took in Squall sitting at the table and Cloud hovering over the stove. He cleared his throat to get their attention and Cloud jumped nearly a foot in the air and dropped his spatula.

"Dad!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing in here?"

"What, I can't come in my own kitchen to watch you slave over the stove like a woman?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Dad…!" He said warningly. He hated being called a woman. It wasn't his fault that he was only 5'6"!

Squall chucked only to stop as soon as he felt Cloud's glare on him. He cleared his throat as if that's what he was doing the whole time and then tried to start up a conversation with Cloud's dad. "Any news from General Sephiroth?"

"He's coming home in a few days." Cloud's dad said.

"Good, maybe he can calm down his damn nephews." Squall grumbled. "They're driving the rest of us mad even though they are in the stables most of the time!"

Cloud's dad chuckled. "They are a most exuberant bunch. In a way it reminds me of Cloud when--"

"Dad!" Cloud interrupted, turning red. "Don't tell that story!"

"Aww, but Cloud--"

A raven-haired girl dressed in black and white skidded into the room, grabbing hold of the doorway to keep from falling over. Cloud nearly breathed a sigh of relief at the interruption.

"Zack! Come quick!" She exclaimed. "One of the guys got stabbed in the shoulder again and it was _so not _my fault this time!"

Zack groaned. "Again? Alright, get him down to the hospital wing. I'll go down and figure out what happened. Squall," He looked over to the brunet. "Come with me. And Cloud," A slight grin crossed his face. "You just keep cooking."

Cloud restrained himself from picking up the spatula to throw it at his dad and instead picked it up and put it in the sink before retrieving a new one from the drawer. Squall waited until Zack and the raven-haired girl - Yuffie - had left before he got up and crossed the room to hug Cloud and kiss him on the cheek.

"You know he isn't being mean." He murmured. "I think he's just a little disappointed that neither you or Roxas is interested in following in his footsteps."

Cloud muttered something unintelligible and roughly stabbed at the sizzling food. Squall sighed and kissed him on the cheek again before turning around and walking out of the room.

"I can fight, you know." Cloud said to an empty room.

Sora, Riku, and Pence nervously waited outside the advisor's hall for Selphie and Kairi. The two had been in the room for a little over a half hour and they were starting to get worried.

"What do you think's taking so long? Do you think thing's are going well?" Sora anxiously asked, starting to pace. "What do you think is happening?"

"I don't know." Riku tersely said. "Be quiet, Sora."

Sora fell silent and stopped his pacing. He stared down at the floor, upset by Riku's insensitivity. For a moment, all was silent. And then the doors glided open and a forlorn Kairi and Selphie walked into the hallway.

"The queen….she doesn't want to see anyone." Selphie quietly said. "The advisor's said they'd call our hotel if she changed her mind."

Kairi self-consciously tugged at the edge of her sundress. "Lets go. Please? I- I need to get out."

They slowly began making their way to the exit, wondering what made the queen not want to meet Kairi. Around that time, Axel dashed around the corner and continued down the hall laughing like a maniac, his long legs carrying him much faster than Naminé's could. He breezed past the group on their way out with a shout of, "Hey, Roxas!"

A few seconds later, Naminé skidded around the corner and continued chasing after Axel. Her hair had long since come free of her hair clip and only a few long pieces remained held up by it. "Axel Firehaven! You get back here right now!" She screamed. As she ran past the group, she seemed to do a double-take when she was Sora and then she said, "Roxas, don't move! I'll be right back!"

"I'm not Roxas!" Sora yelled after her. "My name is Sora! S-O-R-A!"

Naminé stopped at the next bend in the hallway, removed her shoe, and threw it at Axel. ("Ow!" Axel yelled, stumbling.) Then she hobbled back down the hall to Sora and the others. "I apologize. He gets me so worked up sometimes that I can't think straight." She frowned and stepped a little closer to Sora. "Have… we met before?"

Sora looked confused. "No. At least, I don't think so. Not unless you've been in Olympus City or Twilight Town recently. And why did you call me Roxas?"

"Isn't Roxas the name of one of the prince's?" Pence whispered to Kairi, who shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Naminé apologized again. "It's just, you look a lot like my cousin Roxas. In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd swear the two of you were tw--" She stopped talking and raised a hand to her mouth, her eyes going wide. Trembling, she spun on her heel and walked down the hallway, calling Axel's name.

Axel walked around the corner, holding Naminé's shoe and looking annoyed. "You didn't have to throw it at me." He crossly told her, handing the shoe back to her. His annoyance with her was placed on hold when he saw that she looked shaken. "What's wrong?"

"Look at his eyes, Axel. Please tell me they're not like Roxas's. Please!" She begged..

Axel frowned. "What do his eyes have to do with anything?"

Naminé shook her head. "Please, Axel. Go check."

Axel frowned. "Naminé, you can't be seriously thinking that after over ten years that he would just show up out of the blue! It doesn't work like that!"

"Maybe for once it does!" Naminé said, blue eyes blazing. "Maybe for once something is going to turn out right and if I am right, then this would snap Roxas out of his yearly depression and pull Cloud out of the kitchen!"

The two glared at each other for a minute or two before Sora interrupted them.

"Um, should we go or, uh, something?" He asked, feeling uncomfortable.

It was then that Axel saw Sora's eyes and he cursed under his breath when he saw what shade of blue they were. Feeling a little triumphant, Naminé stepped in front of Axel and said, "We think you're Roxas's twin."

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...!

If I said this wasn't a fun chapter to write then that would be a lie. This is the chapter I've had in mind since I first started this story. It's when my entire plot spins itself upside down and snaps into place. I LOVE THIS CHAPTER!!

(cough) So, no one saw this coming, right? I did try to hint about it. Want me to list the places so you can go check? Well, in case you're a crazy person like me and enjoy going back to hunt through chapters for obscure little things, here we go!

Chapter 1- nothing; at least, nothing that I could find.

Chapter 2- I put in THREE things in this one! The first is when describing Sora's eye color : Royal Blue. The next was what was written on the photo. It doesn't read "princess", it only reads 'PRIN'. See, sneaky, huh? And the last thing is probably the biggest hint in the entire story and that would be the crown necklace that Riku gives Sora. Crown royalty prince

Chapter 3- Selphie and Riku calling Sora feminine; it was more for fun, but when I thought about it I realized it could be applied to the 'missing "princess"' theme.

Chapter 4- the second biggest hint is in this chapter with Namine and Roxas. Since the section is in their POV in a way (but don't want to give everything away) I say "the missing member of the royal family".

See, I can actually be sneaky and not give away things too early! Neat, huh? Usually I don't last this long.

And please don't hurt me for this cliffhanger! It's the only one I've done for the entire story and I wanted it to be a big one because it's always tons of fun.

So, next chapter they get to play "meet the parents" or more like, Meet the Family.


	6. Chapter 6: Revealations

**Princess**

_Chapter 6: Revelations_

Naminé's statement didn't get the reaction that she thought it would. Sora stared blankly at her, a little confused. The others, with the exception of Pence, had to force smiles on their faces.

"See, Sora. And here you were worried you wouldn't find your family." Selphie said, trying to be cheerful. Finding Sora's family first, and without even searching for them, came as a big shock to her and Riku.

"I- I have a twin?" Sora asked, his voice coming out as a whisper.

Naminé nodded and then frowned, wondering why that was the only thing that amazed him. "You know who Roxas is, right?"

Sora looked confused. "No. Should I?"

Axel began pacing, looking for all the world that he would rather be anywhere but in that hall. "He's Prince Roxas Faire, the youngest son of King Zack and Queen Aerith." He said.

Sora stumbled backwards into Riku in shock. "W-what?! But I can't be! I'm not a girl!"

If the situation weren't so serious, Naminé would have giggled. Instead, a confused expression came over her face until she remembered one of the many rumors her friends have started over the years. "Oh, that. Sounds like Luxord and Xaldin's rumors spread further than they knew." She looked over at Axel, who continued to pace. "Lets not tell them about it or we'll never hear the end of it."

"Wait!" Sora blurted out. "I don't understand. How can I be the princess?! I wasn't born in April! I was born in February and I'm not a girl and wouldn't I remember having a twin brother? Or any brothers at all? I was only seven when I ended up at the orphanage with Riku. And-"

"_With _Riku or was he already there?" Naminé interrupted, the gears in her brain turning.

Axel stopped pacing to look over at her, wondering what she had thought of.

"With." Riku told her, remembering. "We were arguing as we walked around the streets and that's how they found us. I was…" He frowned. "I was trying to remind him about something."

"But you're certain you were together?" Naminé asked.

Riku nodded.

Selphie figured out what Naminé was trying to get to before Axel could. "You know Riku's family!" She said in a hushed voice.

Naminé hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think so. But first things first. Axel," She turned to face her red-haired friend. "Go get my uncle and the rest of the family. Get them to the Advisor Hall."

"Me?" Axel looked surprised.

"Is there anyone else around here named 'Axel'?" Naminé asked. "And anyway, you probably know the castle better than anyone else because of your Roxas-stalking days." To her amusement, Axel turned a little pink before her quickly turned and walked down the hall.

"Now," She looked back over at the five travelers. "Come with me. I think all of you should meet the Queen."

"All of us?" Pence asked, surprised.

Naminé nodded. "Come." She led the way back down the hall to the double doors of the Advisor Hall.

Sora searched out Riku's hand first and then Selphie's, wanting them by his side when they walked into the room where the Queen was. Selphie squeezed his hand affectionately.

"You'll be fine, 'ra." She whispered.

"I'm scared." Sora admitted in a whisper. "I don't know if I can do this."

Neither of them knew what to say to that. They moved a little closer to him to show that they would be there for him no matter what, while Pence and Kairi trailed a ways behind them, feeling out of place.

They walked into the large room and passed by several startled advisor's. Naminé brushed aside anything they said about the Queen not wanting visitors and opens the door.

Sora's throat went dry at the sight of the beautiful woman on the other side of the soon. Long brown hair twisted into a braid fell down her back, tied at the base of her neck with a pink ribbon. Her layered, pink and white skirt fell to above her ankles, covering most of her practical brown boots. Her simple dark pink and white top tied around her neck and was long enough to reach a few inches past her hips.

"Aunt Aerith," Naminé spoke, positioning herself in front of Sora as the Queen turned around.

Sad but gentle green eyes landed on Naminé's form and Queen Aerith gave her niece a gentle smile. "Naminé, what brings you here?" Her eyes flickered momentarily to Naminé's right to Riku, who defiantly met her gaze. "Who are your friends?"

"Oh, this is Kairi and Pence," The blonde girl pointed out the two. "And Selphie and Riku. And this," She stepped to the side so Aerith could see Sora clearly.

"Sora!" The Queen gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Her eyes widened and began to fill with tears. Hesitantly, she took a step forward. And then another and another until she was standing in front of him. She placed a finger beneath his chin and raised his head so he was looking her in the eyes. Then she raised her hand and gently touched one of his spiky locks of hair. "Oh, _Sora_." She whispered, throwing her arms around him and pulling him close. Tears flowed steadily down her check as she openly wept in joy and relief. "You're home. You're finally home."

* * *

Cloud grumbled as he poked at the remains of a splattered, burnt apple that had exploded in the oven._ 'Damn that Squall.' _He thought. _'I can't believe I let him distract me enough to forget!' _With a growl of disgust he carried the pan over to the garbage can ad scraped off the remainder of the apple.

"Hey, Cloud!"

Cloud turned around, preparing to yell at Axel to get out of the kitchen. The image of what happened the last time the redhead tried to cook was all too clearly imprinted in his brain.

Axel recognized the look on Cloud's face and hurriedly continued. "Naminé wants you in the Advisor's Hall. I've got to find Demyx and Roxas too. Have you seen them?"

"Demyx is hiding out in the library." Cloud said. "But I haven't seen Roxas today."

"Right, thanks." Axel said, vanishing from sight.

Cloud laid the pan in the sink to be cleaned later and wondered why Naminé chose Axel as the messenger. Surely there was a servant she could have asked to do it. He left the kitchen and went straight to the Advisor's Hall. Walking into the room, he was directed to a side room where he spotted Naminé standing among a group of unfamiliar teens. And then there was his mom in the middle of the room hugging a short, brown-haired boy. The two separated and Cloud caught sight of familiar bright blue eyes.

"S-Sora?!" He asked, unable to believe his eyes.

Sora turned around and looked at him for a moment before his eyes widened in recognition. The whole room went still as Sora whispered, "C-Cloud?" And then he raised his voice a little and stepped forward. "Cloud?"

The next thing Cloud knew, he was tackled by a dark form and arms were being wrapped around his chest.

"I remember you." Sora murmured. "You're my brother. You're Cloud." He let go and took a step back, rubbing at his eyes. "You smell like cookies."

Cloud felt like laughing, but knew he wouldn't be able to. Instead, he stood there for a moment to look at Sora and take in the fact that his baby brother was back home where he belonged.

"Welcome home." He whispered.

Sora smiled up at him and then hugged him again, that time not letting go.

* * *

Blue eyes stared unseeingly at the wall before closing. Lips parted to allow a soft sigh to pass between.

"Long day?"

Roxas cracked open his eyes to peer up at Naminé, or, more specifically, the cup of hot chocolate she was holding. He took it from her and sipped at it for a moment before setting it down on the table. "Thanks Nami."

Naminé gave him a smile as she pulled out her chair and sat down. "So, Sora's home." She said after a few minutes.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I know. He was asleep in my bed when I came in. Cloud had to explain to me who the strange kid in my bed was."

"I sent Axel to find you." Naminé informed him testily. "When he couldn't find you I sent Yuffie to track you down. It's not my fault you were somewhere nobody else can find you!"

"Maybe you should look harder next time." Roxas snapped. "And learn to not send Axel of all people after me."

Naminé abruptly stood up, her eyes narrowed in anger and frustration. "Maybe if you'd stop hiding from Axel long enough to get your head out of your ass and admit to him that you like him we wouldn't have problems like this anymore!"

The kitchen door creaked open and Naminé and Roxas automatically shut up and turned to see who it was. Demyx stepped nervously into the room, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, hey, guys. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He asked.

"Nothing important." Naminé said coolly, sitting back down. "I was just explaining to Roxas how it's a good idea to let someone know where you're at in case something important arises."

"And I was trying to explain to Naminé how I'd like some peace for once without Axel running in to interrupt me." Roxas said, all but glaring at Naminé.

"Ohhh…" Demyx shied away. "Should I come back some other time?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, come on in and get some hot chocolate. We're done, I think."

Demyx smiled unsurely and made himself a cup of hot chocolate before joining the two at the table. "So, how's Sora settling in? His friends aren't too angry about us dragging him away so fast, are they?"

"Well, Riku's busy keeping the trio off his back. Remember them always talking about their girly baby brother? They're pretty sure that he's him." Naminé said. "It makes sense, since Cloud recognized him and he and Sora got sent to the orphanage together."

"But… how?" Demyx asked incredulously. "How did they get sent to the orphanage in the first place? And why didn't they remember anything?"

"Mom's looking into it." Roxas said. "She and dad are calling in some favors. They've even got General Sephiroth coming back early."

Naminé thoughtfully ran her finger around the rim of her cup. "You have to remember that ten years ago there were so many kids who lost their families that any kids lost out on the streets were automatically taken to an orphanage. What I'm curious about is why Sora only remembers Cloud and no one else while in most cases the orphans don't remember anything at all. It's what makes it so hard to find their families."

"We'll be able to find the family's of Sora's other friends, right?" Demyx asked.

"I don't know." Naminé admitted. "Maybe."

The three took a break to sit in silence and sip at their drinks before Demyx changed the subject to something a little more cheerful.

"So, how are things going for our upcoming ball? Anything exciting being planned?" He asked Naminé.

"Aunt Aerith wants to announce Cloud's engagement to Princess Rinoa, but we all know that Squall won't let that happen. Although, I will have to let him know about it ahead of time."

"You devious sneak." Demyx said, sounding proud of her. "So what else?"

Naminé shrugged. "I don't know. She'll probably announce Sora's return. Riku's too, since he's Sephiroth's son."

"I never understood that." Demyx remarked, interrupting her. "Kadaj and them always called him their brother, but their Sephiroth's nephews and Riku is Sephiroth's son."

"They grew up together." Naminé explained. "Sephiroth was always gone and Riku was always stuck with them and their mother. Those three have always considered him their brother because of that. Anyway, back to the ball. She wants you to play some of your music, Dem."

"Awesome!"

"I thought you'd say that, so I've already set your performance time." Naminé said. "Which reminds me, Axel has a treat for all of us, but especially for Roxas. A special performance."

Roxas turned a little pink and glared at Naminé, but said nothing. He knew Naminé would only tease him away from everyone else and Demyx wouldn't say anything because of the blackmail that he had against him.

The door creaked open again and Cloud softly stepped into the room, not at all surprised to see the three of them. "I see the three mice have snuck into my kitchen again." He remarked. "Have room for two more?" He moved to the side a little to reveal Sora standing behind him.

"Plenty of room." Demyx cheerfully said. "Want a cup of hot chocolate?"

"No thanks," Cloud said, walking over to the table.

Sora followed closely behind as if afraid to get too far from his older brother. Cloud bent down to say something to Sora, who nodded and then hurriedly took a seat between Naminé and Roxas. Cloud busied himself with making Sora's drink.

"Couldn't sleep?" Naminé asked him.

Sora shook his head. "I got too excited. And then someone woke me up just as I was falling asleep and then I was wide awake, so I went to go talk to Cloud and he brought me down here. Do you guys come down here every night? Cloud made it seem like you do."

Naminé and Roxas exchanged amused looks.

"Well, you're related to Demyx for sure." Naminé said teasingly. "You two both talk a lot."

"Hey!" Demyx exclaimed. "I do not talk a lot! Well, maybe sometimes, but I don't talk a lot all the time!"

Sora looked curious. "Do you have panic attacks too?" He looked up and thanked Cloud went the blonde set down a cup of hot chocolate in front of him. Then he turned his attention to Demyx.

"I do. Hey!" He looked at Sora as if seeing him in a new light. "Now I'm not the only one! This is great! Well, not great, but at least I'm not the only one now. Ha! Now Axel can't make fun of me anymore because then he'd be making fun of Sora which would be like making fun of Roxas since their twins and Axel won't-- Mmmph!" He glared at Naminé and licked her hand so she'd take it off his mouth.

Naminé make a disgusted face and wiped her hands on her pajama pants. "Gross, Dem. Real mature."

"Serves you right." Demyx replied, taking a sip of his drink to get rid of the taste of Naminé's hand. "Ick." He made a face. "Your lotion tastes horrible."

"You're not suppose to eat it, smart one."

"Well maybe if you wouldn't stick your hand in my mouth I wouldn't."

"I did not stick my hand in your mouth. You licked it when I put it over your mouth."

"Same difference!"

While Naminé and Demyx continued to bicker, Roxas leaned closer to Sora and whispered, "It's times like these that it's easy to see that those two are twins."

Sora looked surprised. "Twins?"

"Runs in the family." Cloud said, sitting down between Sora and Naminé. "Mom had a twin brother."

Sora hesitated a moment. "Had?"

"He… passed away a few years ago." Roxas said. "That's why Demyx and Naminé live with us. We don't talk about him much anymore. It's too upsetting."

"O-oh." Sora stammered. He began strumming his fingers on the table. "So, can I got and see my friends tomorrow? I don't like being away from them for too long and Riku doesn't do too well in new places without me and Selphie around. He gets mad at people too easy."

"What about the other two?" Cloud asked.

"Them too." Sora said. "I don't know them as well, but they're really nice and I don't want to leave them all alone. It wouldn't be fair after dragging them all the way out here."

"You'll see them during breakfast, I'm sure." Naminé said. She and Demyx had finished their argument and were ready to rejoin the conversation. "Everyone usually eats breakfast together in the dining hall. It's where Axel always manages to catch Roxas off guard."

For the second time that night Roxas blushed. "He does not!"

Demyx grinned. "No, she's right. You get some food in front of you and from that point on nothing matters but eating that food."

Sora turned to Roxas with wide eyes. "You do that too?!"

His statement brought forth giggling and chuckling from the others while Roxas groaned.

"Okay, twin-ly habits aside, I have a question." Naminé said. "I have to ask; am I the only straight one in this room?"

Sora looked around at the guys in confusion and then back at Naminé. "Huh?"

Naminé giggled. "Well, Cloud is desperately in love with Squall, Roxas is in denial about how he feels about Axel, and Demyx goes into a panic attack whenever he doesn't see Zexion every few hours."

(Demyx scowled and muttered, "I do not.")

"So what about you, Sora?" She asked.

"Me?" Sora looked surprised. "I like Riku. We're together again, you know. We had this big dumb fight, but everything's okay now. He gave me this too." He proudly showed them the crown necklace.

"Aww, that's sweet." Demyx cooed. "Zexion gave me a book once, but I think that was just to get me to stop talking."

The five of them stayed up for a while longer to talk and tease one another before they gave in to sleep and went to bed.

* * *

Two weeks breezed by with a sort of hectic business. Naminé found herself running all over the palace helping Queen Aerith arrange things for the upcoming ball while helping out Sora and his friends. Demyx divided his time between Zexion, practicing for his performance, and spending time with Sora. Roxas was hidden away for most of every day thanks to his training with Larxene. He spent his free time with Sora or hiding from Axel. And Cloud was finally out of the kitchen and back out training with his huge sword, which made Squall and Zack both very happy.

Riku and Axel were not happy. Riku was getting dragged around everywhere by his "brothers" and got roped into helping them out at the stables. He barely had five minutes each morning to talk to Selphie and Sora before he was dragged off. And since they had different lunches and dinners were "family time", that was the only part of the day that Riku could see Sora.

Axel's problem was different but the same in a way. He had plenty of opportunities to see Roxas at different times of the day, he was just unable to ever find him. At breakfast he got stuck sitting down at the end of the table with Kairi, Pence, Xigbar, and Xemnas while Roxas sat with Sora surrounded by family. And during the day when he could usually hunt Roxas down in a matter of minutes, the blonde was nowhere to be found. To add to his stress, he had to show Kairi around.

Axel stared dismally out the window, wishing that the weather reflected his mood. Sitting nearby was Kairi, who looked like she'd rather be anywhere but in that room. He glanced over at her and then looked away, wishing that his dad would think thing's through for once in his life and not rely on gut instinct when deciding something important like adopting a teenaged girl.

"_She's the daughter of one of my best friends." _King Reno had told him. _"I promised him that if anything were to ever happen to him, I would take care of her. Now I find out that she's still alive while he and his wife are gone. If I can do anything to help her, I'll do it. Once I get through to her foster parents I'll talk to her. If she agrees, then you'll have a new little sister."_

'_Yeah, little sister. Just what I need.'_ Axel thought sarcastically. _'Damn it! I don't know anything about girls! Except for Naminé, but she doesn't really count. I've know her for years. And she introduced me to Roxas.'_

"So, you wanna go down to the training field?" Kairi asked, gently breaking through his thoughts. "I haven't been out there yet, but the way, umm, Xig…bar? was describing it made it sound interesting."

"Maybe later." Axel grumbled, still looking out the window.

Kairi disappointedly looked down at her shoes. _'What should I say? He looks so… sad…'_

"Kairi?" Naminé's sweet voice drifted in from the doorway. Seconds later she stepped into the room carrying a bundle of papers. For the first time in a long time she was wearing sweat pants and a tank top and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. "If Axel's being a depressing idiot then you can come with me. I could use a little help."

Happily, Kairi joined her and lightened some of Naminé's load without looking back at Axel. Together the two walked down the hall and talked.

"So, how is castle life treating you?" Naminé asked. "Is Axel treating you alright?"

Kairi nodded. "He's been really nice, showing me all over the castle. He has been a little depressed lately though."

"Ah, that would be because of Roxas." Naminé said with a frown. "Those two have been best friends since the day I introduced them. Axel's liked Roxas as more than a friend for a few years and now Roxas feels the same, but he's in denial."

"Sounds like two of my friends back home. They're always fussing, but you can tell they really like each other."

"Wow, sounds exactly like Roxas and Axel."

Kairi giggled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's funny. You can find similarities in people who live in completely different places and live entirely different lifestyles."

"Hmm." Naminé agreed. "People are people."

"So, where are we taking these?"

"Banquet Hall. Aunt Aerith wants the decorations finalized for next week."

"And it's getting done just now?"

"Seems that way. It gets super crazy around here when parties are being planned."

As if to demonstrate Naminé's point, Yuffie went running past with a handful of ribbons. Moments later, a large red creature ran after her, growling and snarling. The odd scene didn't deter the two girls from continuing on to the Banquet Hall.

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

DONE! (collapses across desk) It took _**forever **_to get this chapter finished. The only part that I had an easy time writing was the kitchen scene with the Faire kids. With the way things are right now, I have no idea how long it'll take me to finish the next chapter since I am (once again) stuck. There are some scenes I need to do before I can hit the ball, in which more important things happen, and then I need to clear up a bunch of questions that have yet to be answered.

So, if anyone had any questions that haven't been answered in the story yet, then feel free to ask so I can make sure I answer everything. And as always, constructive criticism is welcome.

As for when the next chapter will be done... I have no idea. Things are getting crazy here lately with Game Night every Friday night. Not to mention it's my Senior year and I've got 2 projects I still have to finish, Senior Awards ceremony is this Wednesday (and will be a mind-numbing 2.5 hours, but I have to go to it in order to be able to do Senior Skip Day), I've got to decide what kind of laptop I want (any suggestions?), and attempt to organize my friends for a barbeque after graduation. Yay. I'm just glad that I have A's and B's in all my classes so I can exempt my final exams. Especially the English one. There is no way I'm sitting in a classroom for 3 hours to do a 500 question exam. No. Frickin'. Way.

And there's my rant for the day.

...

...

By the way, the red creature chasing Yuffie is Red XIII.


	7. Chapter 7: Chaotic

Disclaimer: Still don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Warnings: This chapter contains a rather Out-Of-Character, very PO'd Namine about halfway through. It does make things rather funny though...

* * *

**Princess**

_Chapter 7: Chaos_

"…and when I finally get ten minutes to be alone with Sora, I find out that he's out shopping with his brothers!" Riku loudly complained to Selphie. "So there went a whole ten minutes of my free time down the drain."

"At least you get to spend time with family." Selphie told him. "And at least you have things to do. The only thing I've found to occupy my time with is helping out at the library."

"I guess that's true. But they're not even my brothers, they're my cousins!"

"They're still family, Riku."

"No, they're annoying as fuck is what they are."

Selphie rolled her eyes and gave up on getting anything out of Riku that wasn't a complaint of some kind. She tuned him out as she worked on painting her nails bright yellow and then continued to ignore him after that while she painted her toenails as well.

Riku noticed that she wasn't paying attention after a while and decided to have a little fun. "And then a big pink elephant wearing a tutu pranced into my room singing 'you are my sunshine' before it put on my pants and performed the 'hokey pokey'. Then it flew out my window into the sun."

"Uh-huh." Selphie said distractedly. "That's nice, Riku."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "So then you walk in wearing a suit and wanting to know where the elephant went, so I told you that it flew out the window. So then you flew after it, except your wings melted and you crashed down to the ground and died. The end."

A clapping noise from the doorway got his and Selphie's attention. There stood Naminé, looking more hassled and tired than ever. "Great story, Riku. You should write a book." She paused a moment and looked over at Selphie. "Selphie, someone managed to track down your family. They're waiting for you in the Advisor's Hall. You know the way, right? I'm in the middle of tracking down someone to get something to take to someone else, otherwise I'd take you down there myself."

Selphie carefully slipped on her sandals and stood up. "It's okay. I know the way."

Naminé nodded and then hurried off.

"Will you be okay here wallowing in your misery?" Selphie asked Riku, half teasing.

Riku rolled his eyes. "I have things to do and cousins to avoid."

"And a Sora to track down?"

"That too."

"Good luck." Selphie said before leaving the room.

* * *

Naminé hurried into the Banquet Hall, dodging around other people as they rushed around the large room. She made her way over to Queen Aerith and dropped off a stack of papers before picking up a finished stack and leaving the room. Her next stop was the greenhouse to deliver the papers regarding the flower and plant arrangements.

There, Marluxia stopped her so they could talk for a minute or two.

"Naminé, Xemnas wants to have a meeting in four nights." He informed her. "We tried to talk him out of it. Larxene even threatened him, but he insisted on it. Make sure you tell Roxas and Demyx. You know how Xemnas gets when some of us don't show up."

"That's easier said than done." Naminé said. "Roxas has been spending all of his time with Sora lately. He won't be happy about leaving Sora alone to listen to our beloved Superior ramble on."

"Have him bring Sora. We can make him an honorary member like you. Then you won't be the only one." Marluxia paused and glanced back. "I gotta run. Lots to do."

Naminé nodded. "See you tomorrow." She said before going on her way. She had tons more papers to deliver and other errands to run.

'_As soon as this is all over, I'm going to take a nice, long soak in the tub.' _She thought_. 'Or a vacation. A vacation sounds really nice.'_ The thought of a possible vacation put a little extra spring in her step and kept her cheery for the rest of the day.

* * *

The day of the ball was fast approaching and the halls of the palace were busier than ever as guests began arriving. More and more people were starting to avoid Naminé and the Queen, as the two got cranky from lack of sleep. For once, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo stayed out of trouble, although whether it was fear of Naminé and Aerith's wrath or because they were keeping so busy remained a mystery.

Demyx had taken to locking himself in his room for hours at a time in order to finalize things for his musical performance. Sora got the job of dragging him out when he'd forget to come out for food.

Everyone else went about business as usual, until the night of the Organization XIII meeting. Donning black hooded coats, the thirteen members plus the two honorary members met in an old dining hall. The room itself was ordinary with curtains and a long table with chairs. The only odd thing was that everything, even the table and chairs, was white.

The fourteen people took their placed behind their chairs as Xemnas walked into the room and over to his chair at the head of the table.

"Welcome," He spoke grandly, his voice easily carrying around the room. "to the thirteenth meeting of the Thirteenth Order. It gives me great pleasure to see all of you here on time."

"Yeah, I bet it does you huge dick." Naminé muttered.

Xemnas ignored Naminé, knowing full well that she didn't really mean it. "We have much to discuss since our meeting one month ago, but first we must welcome our newest honorary member. Sora Faire, brother of Number Thirteen, the Key of Destiny, rise."

Sora looked nervously around the table as he stood.

"Henceforth you shall be known as Number Fifteen, the Light of Hope. We bid you welcome into this Order. You may be seated." Xemnas waited until Sora was once again sitting down before he continued. "Our illustrious Order has once again been vitiated into something it is not. We must act in clearing our name."

"What's your 'great plan' this time?" Larxene loudly asked. "Because I refuse to watch little kids again."

"No, I have a much grander scheme in mind." Xemnas said. "There is a ball approaching and at that ball we shall have a little performance."

There was silence for a moment while everyone stared at Xemnas like he had lost his mind and was talking gibberish. Then everyone clamored for attention, raising their voices and rising from their seats.

Naminé abruptly stood and slammed her hands against the table. "Shut up!" Her voice cracked around the table like a whip. "Let him speak so we can get this over with."

"Our performance," Xemnas spoke as everyone quieted and sat back down. "Will be a song and dance routine."

"Sweet!" Demyx yelled, jumping up from his chair. "What are we performing? When are we performing? You know we only have a few days left to practice, right?"

"Number Nine, take your seat." Xemnas ordered, suddenly sounding very tired.

Larxene jumped up as soon as Demyx sat down. "I refuse to take part in your idiotic plan." She hissed, her green eyes narrowed.

"As do I." Luxord agreed, rising for a moment.

Xemnas tried to call for order, but failed miserably as everyone else began arguing or complaining that it was too stupid an idea.

"Is it always like this?" Sora asked Roxas.

"No, usually Xemnas has better ideas." Roxas said with a shrug. "And this is nothing. You should have been here the day that Demyx and Xigbar arrived while playing 'Mission Impossible'. They got Xemnas so mad that Axel started making jokes about frying an egg on his face and that steam was coming from his ears. Come to think of it, we all joked around about that for nearly a week until Xemnas started hiding out in corners to sulk."

Sora glanced over at Xemnas, who was sinking further and further down into his seat the louder the yelling got, and then looked back at Roxas. "So, why is he your leader?"

Roxas looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know… I have no idea. I think he's the one who started the whole mess."

"Makes sense." Sora said.

The two stayed to watch the chaos for a while longer and then left, making sure to take Naminé with them so she wouldn't start throwing chairs at people.

* * *

Looking out at all of the people dancing and having fun, Naminé was pleased to see that the ball was moving along smoothly. She was sure there was nothing that could possibly ruin her good mood.

"Ahem." A blonde man saddled up beside Naminé, waiting patiently for her to direct her attention toward him.

Naminé ignored him, hoping that would make him leave her alone.

"Lady Naminé, may I have a moment of your time?" He suavely asked.

"I'm busy Rufus." Naminé said, walking away from him.

To some, that would have been a very clear dismissal, but Rufus Shinra wasn't like most people. He was an annoyingly persistent person who was used to getting exactly what he wanted. He quickly followed her, easily keeping up with his long strides.

"Lady Naminé," He tried again. "It's important."

Naminé wished she could turn around and punch him in the stomach or yell at him or do anything to get him away from her, but knew from experience that he could easily overcome her. "It's always something important for your, but something I could care less about. I don't have time to listen to you right now."

"Naminé," Rufus grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "It's about Sora."

Naminé went rigid and for the first time in years she turned around and regarded Rufus seriously. She thought over her options for a moment and then nodded. "Fine. But not here." She led him across the dance floor, pausing once to whisper something to Larxene, who narrowed her sharp green eyes at the young businessman.

The two settled in a corner of the room where there wasn't many people.

"Okay, explain." Naminé said, sitting down.

Rufus took a seat beside her and was careful to leave some space between them. "I know who sent Sora away."

A surprised expression flitted across Naminé's face for a second before she hid it away. "You have my attention."

Rufus glanced around to make sure no one was listening in and then he leaned forward. "Working for my father is a man named Hojo. He's the head of our science department. _Remember that name_. It's important." He leaned back with a satisfied gleam in his eyes. "I'll send you the book tomorrow. I think you'll find it interesting." He discreetly winked at her as he stood and took her hand. "Nice talking to you, Lady Naminé." He said, kissing the back of her hand. He turned around to leave, but stopped when Naminé stood up and called his name.

"What are you getting from this?" She asked.

"Ah, that's not part of the game." Rufus said, sounding amused. "Don't you worry your pretty little head, my dear. All will reveal itself in time."

Naminé watched him leave with a guarded expression on her face, wondering what she had gotten herself into that time. Then she turned and walked in the opposite direction of him, blending easily into the crowd.

* * *

Demyx bounded happily over to Axel and leapt onto the redhead's back while he was talking to Roxas. "Hey guys," He interrupted their conversation. Aunt Aerith is going to have Cloud announce his engagement to Rinoa soon! What do you think Squall is going to do?"

"We'll see." Roxas said, looking over at the stage. "Squall's going up there now. I hope dad's nearby to catch mom when she faints."

Demyx grinned at the mental image he got and looked around for his aunt and uncle before getting off of Axel. "They're over that way talking to Cloud." He said, trying not to squeal in excitement. "Lets go closer! I want to see Cloud's reaction."

The three pushed their way to the front while Squall worked on getting everyone's attention. It wasn't long before the entire room was quiet and looking expectantly at the stage.

"Thank you." Squall said calmly. Inside, he was fighting off the urge to vomit. He wasn't used to having so many people staring at him. "Cloud, could you come up here?" He asked, scanning the crowd for his handsome blonde. He smiled when he spotted him walking up to him with a confused look on his face.

"What are you doing?" Cloud hissed.

Squall said nothing and instead took Cloud's hands. He looked at his lover and the thought of all of those people staring at him slipped from his mind. Nothing else mattered but him and Cloud. "When I first met you, I know that you were someone special. It wasn't because you're the prince, but because you were so gentle and caring. For four years you've been my best friend and the one stable thing in my life." He paused a moment and looked into Cloud's deep blue eyes. Then he lowered himself to his knees. "Cloud Faire, I love you. Will you marry me?"

Cloud's breath caught in his throat at Squall's words and it took a moment for him to react. When he did, it was to throw his arms around Squall and kiss him passionately in front of everyone.

Somewhere in the audience, Zack fainted and was caught by Aerith with help from Sephiroth.

"So is that a 'yes'?" Squall breathlessly asked as they separated.

"Yes." Cloud said before going in for a second kiss.

* * *

Roxas looked away from the stage, feeling uncomfortable watching Squall and his brother kiss.

Axel whispered something to Demyx, who then nodded and ran off. He tapped Roxas on the shoulder and smiled when the short blonde looked up at him. "Walk with me?" He asked.

Roxas glanced briefly at the stage and then nodded. "Okay."

Giddy with happiness, Axel took Roxas's hand and led him out of the ballroom so they could have some peace and quiet. The two ended up out in Aerith's garden.

"So, Squall proposing to Cloud. That's a little unexpected." Axel remarked.

"Not really. Namine found out that mom was going to have Cloud propose to Rinoa, so she told Squall about it." Roxas said with a shrug. "Cloud will probably yell at him for it later, since he did it in front of so many people."

An awkward silence fell around them.

Axel cleared his throat. "So, uh, I saw Sora with Riku earlier." He mentioned. "That Selphie girl was with them too."

"Yeah," Roxas muttered distractedly. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Axel moving closer to him.

"Rox," Axel gently touched his arm. "You know…" He sighed. "I'm leaving in a few days. I've got to go home."

"Why tell me this?" Roxas asked, not looking at him. "I don't care."

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Axel asked, his voice rising. "I'm trying to ask if you'd like to go with me to Destiny Islands because you've always said you wanted to visit, but if you're going to be this stubborn then forget it!"

Roxas looked up, his royal blue eyes wide with surprise. "Y-you want me to go with you? For how long?"

"A month or two. Then I'll be able to come back with you." Axel said. "What do you say, Roxas?"

"But what about Sora? I can't just leave!"

"Of course you can! Listen, Rox, Sora's not going anywhere. You know he won't. Please come with me?"

Roxas hesitated a moment. "Okay. But if you do anything stupid then I'm coming back home! You got that?"

Axel chuckled. "Yeah, I've got it memorized, Roxy."

"Don't call me that!"

"Aww, but Roxy--!" Axel yelped when Roxas punched him on the arm. Without a second thought, the redhead took off running through the garden.

Roxas chased after him. "Get back here, Axel!"

Axel's laughter echoed around the garden.

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

You know, bringing in Rufus was never part of my plans until he just randomly showed up to talk to Namine. I blame me getting Advent Children and watching it. Although... getting him in the story gives me a way to explain Sora's disappearance better. Makes things more interesting too. Unfortunently, the side effect of this is that it drags out the story and puts the focus on Namine more.

So, aside from the whole bizarre Rufus/Namine thing, this story is almost done. Then I will once again be taking a break to concentrate on getting a job, choosing my college classes, and getting a nice head start on my next story. The way it looks right now is that I have one or two chapters left.


	8. Chapter 8: So Much for R&R

**Princess**

_Chapter 8: So Much for R&R_

The sun dipped low in the sky, casting its rays over the sparkling water. Sitting on a cliff overlooking the water were Sora, Riku, and Selphie. Sora was happily sitting in Riku's lap with the silver-haired boy's arms wrapped around him loosely. Selphie sat as close to them as possible with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"So," Selphie broke the peaceful silence. "I met my family last week. Turns out I have two older brothers and my dad's a star Blitzball player."

"Who?" Sora asked, excited. He had been a fan of the sport ever since one of the other orphans in Traverse Town introduced him to it. "Is it Wakka? I heard he had a kid. Ooo, or that Luca star, whats-his-face?" He suddenly gasped and leaned over to Selphie, his eyes wide. "It's not Jeckt of the Zanarkand Abes, is it?"

Selphie nodded.

Sora's jaw dropped. "No way! That's so cool! Hey, can you get me his autograph? Please? Pretty please?"

Selphie laughed. "Of course. I can get you Tidus's signature too. He's getting ready to join the team and I think he'll be better than dad."

"Tidus is one of your brothers?" Riku asked.

"Yup. He's two year's older than me. Shuyin's the oldest though, he's five years older." She paused a moment. "You know… they may be my brothers by blood, but that doesn't mean they'll ever replace you guys. You'll always be my brothers."

"Well that's good. Otherwise, me and Sora would have to kidnap you until you'd change your mind." Riku joked.

"Looks like you're stuck with us, Sel." Sora said with a smile. "So what's it like living with Jeckt? Is he really cool?"

"It's… interesting. Tidus breaks things a lot when he's goofing off and Shuyin's always locked in his room doing something with computers or out with his fiancé, Lenne. And dad… he teases Tidus a lot, but I can tell he cares. And Shuyin is mom's pride and joy. She spends an unholy amount of time crooning over the prick."

"You and Shuyin not getting along?" Sora asked.

"We… disagree. A lot." Selphie said, looking uncomfortable. "So, Sora, you have two brothers. What are they like?"

Sora shrugged. "Normal, I guess. I mean, you've seen them. Cloud's quiet and likes to cook. Roxas has a bit of a temper. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether he likes Axel or not, but he's going over to Destiny Island with him so I guess he does. And you guys have both met Naminé and Demyx."

"At least your relatives are sane." Riku groused. "But I'll be moving into father's wing of the castle soon and won't have to deal with them every day. And I'll have more free time." He nuzzled Sora contentedly.

"Riku's going to train under Squall!" Sora proudly told Selphie. "Squall's one of the best fighter's we've got. And he'll be my brother-in-law soon! Mom's really excited and Roxas says he's never seen Cloud this happy." He lowers his voice for a moment. "I heard him singing in his kitchen the other day."

"Did you three start gossiping without us?" Kairi asked as she and Pence approached. She sounded more amused than angry.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora greeted. "Or should I say, _Princess _Kairi. How's it feel to be Axel's new little sister?"

"He's a pain in the neck." She said, sitting down beside Selphie.

Pence was quick to sit down beside his auburn-haired friend and take her hand in a rare show of possessiveness.

"How have you been, Pence?" Selphie asked.

"Fine." Pence said, not giving any details. "I have to go back to Twilight Town soon. My parents are getting worried and I need to tell Hayner and Olette what's going on."

"You'll… you'll come back, right?" Kairi asked hesitantly.

Pence shook his head, already knowing that once he got back home his parents wouldn't let him out of their sight.

"Oh…" Kairi dropped his hand and stood up, walking right up to the edge of the cliff to stare into the sparkling water below. "Then lets make this the best three days we possibly can." She said determinedly. She watched the last few rays of sun disappear over the horizon and then turned around to look at the others. "What do you say? Are you guys up for some fun?"

Sora nodded eagerly. "Yeah! What about you, Riku? Selphie?"

"I think we could all use some fun." The brunette girl said.

"Then it's settled. For the next three days we will hang out and have fun, just the five of us. No worried." Kairi said.

* * *

A month passed before Naminé heard from Rufus again, but even then it was only in coded letter to give her more information on the mystery behind Sora's disappearance as well as to give her a warning.

_He's on the move. Watch yourself._

Naminé cursed and stood abruptly from her chair to begin pacing around the room. 'What am I going to do? I can't go directly to aunt or uncle because then I'd have to explain how I know all of this. Then I'd have to explain about making deals with Rufus, which would get both of us in trouble.'

"Damn it." She muttered. "Now what? What the hell do you expect me to do?!" She yelled, wishing that Rufus was there so she could yell at him instead of her empty room.

"I need some help." She decided. "And I know just who to ask." With a smirk, she walked across the room to straighten a photo of her and Larxene. Her eyes glowing with anticipation, she spun on her heel and left the room.

She cut across the hall and opened up a secret panel, slipping inside and closing it just as Demyx came around the corner. She followed the long corridor as it twisted, rose, and fell until she came to the door she needed. She stepped out into a dimly lit section of the library and closed the shelf behind her before quietly walking past the rest of the shelves to a couch occupied by tons of books and a single person.

"Hey, Larx, you feeling bored?"

"Not really." Larxene drawled, glancing briefly up from her book.

By all appearances, it seemed as if Larxene could care less about what Naminé had to say, but Naminé knew otherwise.

"That's too bad. I have some rather interesting information regarding a Shinra Corp scientist, but if you're not interested…"

Larxene snapped her book shut, her eyes narrowed. She regarded Naminé for a moment and then stood. "Follow me."

Naminé followed Larxene to her secured office and began to explain what she had learned. She told how Hojo was the one who had a spy slip something into Sora and Riku's food that would block their memories. The spy then took them outside of the palace to Hojo, who had them taken away by helicopter to Traverse Town. Then he had something similar put into the water supply to make everyone forget exactly how Sora looked or acted.

Larxene listened with a stony look on her face. When Naminé was finished, she stood and paced around the room, processing the information. "Rufus gave you this information?"

"No, it arrived at my room the day after the ball." Naminé said, giving the half-truth.

Larxene snorted. "Right. So, Rufus Shinra wants one of his scientists taken out. How interesting." A deadly smirk crossed her face. "I can take care of this, no problem. Xigbar will help."

"Consider it taken care of?" Naminé asked.

Larxene nodded. "Consider it taken care of."

* * *

Another week passed to see Roxas and Axel's return from Destiny Island. Kairi remained behind on the island, having no reason to return to Radiant Garden with Pence back in Twilight Town. Around the time that they returned, an article covering the death of a major Shinra scientist appeared in the newspapers. Despite the strange rumors surrounding the man's death, it didn't take more than a few days for the talk to die down.

Naminé was in a great mood that following weekend. She had plans for a nice, relaxing vacation with her aunt and was looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.

"Naminé!" Demyx yelled, bursting into the art room. Mere seconds later he was tackled to the ground by Sora.

"Gotcha!" The brunet happily yelled. He looked up and gave Naminé a smile when he saw her curious look. "Demyx lobbed a water balloon at Axel and Roxas and was going for me and Riku next."

Naminé set down her pencil. "You guys started a water balloon fight without me?"

"You said not to bother you." Demyx reminded, struggling to get up. "So-ra!" He whined. "Let me up!"

"Only if you engage in fair water balloon combat." Sora said, not moving.

Demyx grinned into the floor. "'Faire' water balloon combat? Okay, sure."

Pleased, Sora let Demyx up and then looked at Naminé hopefully. "Are you going to join us?"

"Of course." Naminé said, sharing a conspiratorial look with her brother. "I would never miss water balloons. I'll change clothes and be out in a few minutes. Don't start without me."

The boys agreed and then left to go fill up some more water balloons.

Naminé quickly changed into something not white and then hurried off to recruit people for the water balloon fight. Sora wanted it to be a 'Faire' fight, so a 'Faire' fight it would be.

* * *

Water balloons flew across the courtyard, smashing into pillars and against walls and the ground. Axel, Roxas, Sora and Riku squatted in hiding behind a wall, trying to come up with a plan for their temporary alliance.

"I say we have someone run out and distract them and then we run out and bombard them!" Axel suggested. "I vote that Sora goes."

"Hey!" Sora protested.

"Axel's the one who suggested it. Make him go." Riku told Roxas.

"It's not like I can control what he does!"

"Okay, okay." Axel said, waving his hands. "New plan."

There was a moment of silence while they looked at Axel expectantly.

"What?" The redhead asked. "I already came up with a plan! Now it's someone else's turn!"

Roxas peeked over the wall to locate Demyx, Naminé, and Xigbar, only to quickly duck back down as three water balloons flew in his direction. "How did they get us cornered so easily?! There's only three of them!"

"Probably because Axel is afraid of getting his hair wet." Sora teased the redhead.

"Just you wait," Axel threatened. "One of these days I'll catch you when Riku isn't around and then you'll regret teasing me."

Sora stuck his tongue out, confident that Axel wouldn't do anything too bad to him. Not unless he wanted Roxas pissed at him.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Riku suddenly asked. "It sounds like yelling." Cautiously, he stood to peer over the crumbling wall.

"What is it?" Axel asked, also standing up to look. "Hey, check it out! Cloud and Squall are bombing the others!"

Roxas and Sora both stood to take a look, and that's when they were attacked from behind by Zack, Aerith, Yuffie, and General Sephiroth.

The four teens slowly turned around, water dripping down their backs.

"You guys should start paying better attention." Yuffie remarked, lightly tossing a water balloon into the air and then catching it. She yelped when it burst in her hand after the fifth toss.

Axel, Roxas, Sora, and Riku took that opportunity to dodge out of their hiding place to run around the corner and duck behind a pillar and a bunch of bricks that had fallen over.

"What are they doing out here?" Riku questioned, keeping a lookout from behind. "Sora, I thought you said that Demyx promised to fight fair!"

"But he did! He told me we'd have a fair fight!" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas groaned and slumped against their temporary fort. "Thanks to Sora, this is a Faire fight, just not the one intended."

Axel also groaned, knowing what happened. "Man, I hate Faire fights. There's no escape once you get involved." He noticed Sora and Riku's confused looks and decided to elaborate. "Your last name, Sora, is Faire. Get it now?"

"Oooh! Oops." Sora said, looking sheepish. "Sorry, guys."

Axel shrugged. "Too late now. Guess we'll have to take them out early, huh Roxy."

Roxas rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the butchering of his name. "You take Sora and I'll take Riku." He decided after a moment. "Don't mess up this time. It was hard enough to clean up after you the last time when you lost sight of my mom."

"Yeah, yeah," Axel muttered.

As Roxas dragged Riku off in a different direction, Axel unhooked his belt and began removing the small spiky wheels, handing a few of them to Sora. "Alright, these are my mini-Chakrams. We're going to throw them at the balloons so we don't get hit. Got it memorized?"

Sora poked one of the spikes out of curiosity. "Throw spiky things at balloons. Got it."

"Great. Alright, listen. When I say so, we're going to split up and go running around the courtyard. Get rid of whatever balloons you can't dodge. When you can, there are bricked marked by the numeral thirteen; push those in and then get under the cover on the other side."

"No problem." Sora said confidently. "Any other pieces of advice?"

Axel grinned. "Run fast. Now, _charge!_"

The two leaped over the fallen pillar and into the fray.

* * *

Hours later when Sora, Roxas, Axel, and Riku emerged as the victors, everyone traipsed back into the castle, soaking wet. Most of them went straight to their rooms, although Demyx went to hunt down Zexion and give him a hug and Xigbar went to annoy Xemnas and Saix for a while.

The fun lasted through dinner, as everyone congratulated and teased the four winners. It wasn't until an hour after dinner that the fun went away for Naminé.

"Aunt Aerith?" She asked, knocking on the doorway. Peering into her uncle's study, she found both her aunt and uncle near the desk, looking worried.

"Naminé, come in." Aerith said, sounding tired. "We have some news from Shinra Corporation."

Naminé felt like a block of ice had just been plunged into her stomach as she involuntarily shivered. She crossed the room and took a seat, her mind reeling. _'What did he do now? Did he tell about Hojo's meddling? Or did someone find out about our involvement in his death? __**What is going on?' **_

"We just received word that the previous president has stepped down, leaving his son with complete control over the company." Aerith said.

"But before he resigned he made sure of one thing." Zack said unhappily.

"What is it?" Naminé asked, trying to quench her fears.

"He made sure there would be a permanent alliance between his company and our family." Aerith said when Zack made no move to speak.

Naminé hesitated, her eyes flickering between her aunt and uncle. Surely they weren't suggesting what she thought they were. She had to ask, just to make sure. "What kind of… alliance?"

For a moment, no one spoke.

"A marriage." Zack quietly said, before repeating it loudly and banging a fist on the desk in anger.

Aerith glided over to him and quietly comforted him.

"A marriage?" Naminé faintly repeated. Not a single tangible thought ran through her brain for the next few seconds. "Me and Rufus?"

"Yes."

Shakily, Naminé stood and left the room without a word. Aerith and Zack let her go, knowing that she was going straight out to the gardens to try and think.

That was where Rufus found her several hours later after arriving at the castle to speak with the King and Queen. Naminé could hear him coming, but chose to ignore his presence.

"Naminé," He smoothly greeted as he took a seat beside her.

Naminé said nothing and just looked up to the night sky. She was for once thankful that Rufus was a very patient man and would wait quietly for her to speak instead of needlessly prodding her.

"You know, on a good day you don't expect anything unusual to happen." She said after a few minutes. "And then it does and you're upset. After that, you look back and say, 'Wow, that was a horrible day'." She sighed and then looked over at him. "Rufus, is there a way out of this?"

"My father was not a stupid man." Rufus told her.

"No, but most of his genius comes from you working behind the scenes, particularly recently." Naminé said. "You never answered my question; is there a way out?"

Rufus shook his head. "No."

Naminé leaned back and tilted her face toward the sky, holding herself up with her arms. "Damn…" She muttered.

"Would it really be that bad?" Rufus asked, ghosting his fingers down her arm. "Being married to me?"

Naminé moved away from him, but said nothing.

Rufus stayed for a while longer, half hoping - wishing - that she would say something else. When she didn't, he stood up and bowed to her. "I give you as long as you may need, my Lady Naminé."

Naminé turned her head to watch him leave and when she thought he was out of hearing range, she whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

The END

* * *

Yes, you read correctly. That's the end. I really needed to end it before it turned into some really bizarre Rufus/Namine thing, although I guess that happened anyway. I may come back and add a chapter of scenes I ended up not writing. And any questions will be answered now. Feel free to include questions in a review or you can PM me. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Do not ask where the whole water balloon thing came from; I have _no _idea. I was sitting there writing Sora tell Demyx he wanted a fair fight and I giggled a little when I thought, 'Hey, 'Faire' is their last name'. I apologize now for the horrible name pun I used.

So, this one is over and now I can unveil the title of my next fanfiction...

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Kioku no Kusari! The stand-alone sequel to Herutsu no Oukoku that will hopefully be much better than the first. My plans are to pull away more from the KH2 storyline and just kind of wing it. I've already had to re-number the organization members to make room for Mnexina. The first seven are the same, but 8 through number 12 I've had to bump up one number. I'll make things clearer when I begin posting in... one month.

In other news, I graduate from my HS this Saturday! Yaa-hooo!


End file.
